The Labyrinth (sequel to The Sacrifice)
by angelalias
Summary: When a demon takes Cordelia hostage inside her own body, a trip inside her head may be a lot more than Angel and the gang expected...The key to their survival lies in cordy's hands....but can they find her in time? (Chapter 14 added Feb 2, PG13 violence)
1. Default Chapter

TITLE: Labyrinth  
  
AUTHOR: Andrea [email] buttermilk55@hotmail.com [/email]  
  
SPOILERS: None that I can think of  
  
GENRE: Sci-fi, action, suspense, drama  
  
SHIP: C/A, with some twist and turns regarding the other romantic couples...+ some crossovers at some point.  
  
NOTE: This serves as a sequel to THE SACRIFICE but you don't really need to have read The Sacrifice to enjoy this one.  
  
A Little Sacrifice resume: In the Sacrifice, you were introduced to Emily Chase, Cordelia's cousin. Emily had escaped from a mental institute in which the Chase family had her committed. She arrived in LA with a secret and a mission -- she was working for The Powers. Emily was able to see Ghost and spirits and her job was to help them cross over. The process was one that proved to be too painful for Emily to withstand, and therefore, because of her human nature, her mission and power killed her. She died in Cordelia's arms at the Hyperion, with Angel, Fred, Wesley and Gunn looking on. But before dying, Emily did leave something behind that would change the course of Cordelia's life forever. She left a message: Don't let what happened to me happen to you. Don't be afraid to save yourself. She also informed Angel about the prophecy which said that intimacy with a man of demon-blood could relieve the pain in which Cordelia found herself due to the visions. As the days went by, Cordelia's state worsened and eventually, after a long and heated debate, Angel convinced Cordelia that the risk was worth it if it was going to save her. Before, Angel made Cordy promise that if anything happened to him she would stake him without any hesitation. Despite fears and an unwillingness to risk Angel's redemption, Cordy promised. The two of them made love and as a result, Angelus was reborn. A very emotional and violent confrontation ensued between Cordy and Angelus in the basement of the Hyperion, where Emily had died, and while beaten to the ground, Cordelia heartbreakingly staked Angelus. Plagued with "visions" of Emily and Angel, and with the sudden arrival of the Scooby Gang, Cordelia began to shut herself from the rest of the world, until a very emotional talk with Buffy occurred. As the two were talking, sitting on the floor in the training room, Joyce Summers and Emily Chase's Ghosts appeared to the two of them, somehow trying to comfort the two lost women, and also to finish Emily's mission. By the means of her Powers, Emily was able to let Cordelia speak with The Powers face to face for the first time. They gave Cordy a choice. Angel had relieved her from the pain, but the visions remained...unless Cordelia wished to lose them forever. The moment of truth. Instinctively, Cordelia refused to lose them and chose to keep the painless visions. As the words left Cordelia's mouth, Angel's body fell from the sky, as if sent back as a token of The Powers' gratitude. No one understood what had happened, or how Angel had gotten back...or why...until Emily's Ghost appeared once again. Emily said her emotional goodbyes to Angel and Cordelia, separately, as Cordy realized that Emily had been the one to send Angel back. That was her mission. She was The Sacrifice. Emily gave her life to save Cordy's and Angel's. Angel and Cordy's relationship was now changed forever. But instead of the awkwardness that had been anticipated, a sense of comfort surrounded them. They all visited Emily's grave in Sunnydale, and under the midnight rain, Cordelia and Angel kissed....  
  
So that's basically all you need to know if you haven't read THE SACRIFICE.  
  
SUMMARY (Labyrinth): One month after the tumultuous events in The Sacrifice. When Cordy's life is threatened by a demon who traps her inside her own body, a journey inside her head may turn out to be a lot more than any of them bargained for...No rules, no guide...no way out. The demon plays off their fears, he plays off their insecurities...he plays off her memories...It's his game, inside her head....and they are all players.  
  
Labyrinth  
  
CHAPTER 1 -- Clueless  
  
[i]"There is nothing wider and more powerful than the human mind.  
  
The soul.  
  
With its fears, its doubts. Its beauty and its strength. Its knowledge and its innocence. With its hopes and memories.  
  
With its endless capacities and its restraint desire to be exposed."  
  
[/i]  
  
--  
  
The hours went by slowly but surely at first. Then the days, and somehow the pain began to ease. The weeks passed them by, one by one, and, as it is often the case, things slowly got back to normal.  
  
Or at least, as normal as it had ever been for them.  
  
Cordelia, Angel, Wesley, Fred and Gunn all fell back into their demon fighting with ease.  
  
It had been a months. A month, 2 days and 8 hours since Angel's soul had been restored and he had been sent back on earth to be exact. Not that Cordelia was counting or anything...  
  
Right.  
  
The image of Emily never left her, but contrary to before, this time, it was an image of a peaceful and free Emily that stayed in her mind. Once in a while, that image would be blurred a little, but Cordy had vowed not to allow herself to think of everything that her young cousin had gone through. The mental institute, growing up as a Chase, her life as a warrior for the Powers, her becoming one of the very things that killed her: a ghost...She liked to believe Emily's last words and the fact that she was now safe from it all.  
  
Cordelia -- as well as Angel and the rest of them -- took comfort in the fact that Emily was probably in a better place. And that she was still there, with them, in her own way.  
  
That evening, the moon watched wisely over that huge ball called earth. She hung brightly in the sky, surrounded by a handful of sparkly little companions who seemed to keep the sky pinned up in its rightful place.  
  
Books and sheets of paper were spread out in a mess on Cordelia's kitchen table. Cutout articles of newspaper lay on top of a pile of research books, an emptied glass of blood stood nearby, while a pair of glass landed on the side of the wooden table. On the floor, some more books had been left to dry after proving to be useless to their search. Jackets were crushing one another on a tiny chair near the wall...  
  
Another night, another case.  
  
They had been having what had appeared to be one quiet, demon-free take-out dinner when Cordelia had been hit by a vision. Already equipped to deal with whatever kind of research they could possibly face right there in Cordy's apartment, they chose to stay instead of heading back to the Hyperion.  
  
--  
  
Outside, a shadow moved towards the window at a pace unknown to human kind, and looked inside Cordelia's apartment.  
  
Red eyes appeared into the dark night, waiting.  
  
--  
  
Gunn and Wesley sat on one side of the table, occasionally arguing about what book and information made more sense. Fred sat across from them, giving a slight giggle here and there at their childish behavior, not to mention their obliviousness to what was happening right before their eyes.  
  
Cordelia and Angel were sitting on opposite ends of the table, sometimes pretending to be reading, or researching, but mostly, they were busy sharing those silent looks that Fred had come to know so well.  
  
Angel and Cordy had decided to take things slowly and with care when it came to their newfound relationship. Even in their attempts to keep it low- key and separate from AI, Fred had picked up on it very quickly. After everything that had happened, it seemed perfectly normal to her that these two would have realized how they feel about one another. What amused her the most -- beside their resolve to keep it low-key until they knew exactly where they were going with this -- was Gunn and Wesley complete obliviousness to those little things. The looks, the smiles, the little whispers. Fred sometimes shook her head with a laugh at how clueless the guys seemed to be. Sometimes she wondered if they were even aware of what had been happening between Angel and Cordelia in the last month. She'd promised Cordy and Angel that she would keep their secret until they thought the time was right to reveal it to everyone, but she couldn't believe that Gunn and Wesley weren't at least a tiny bit suspicious.  
  
After all, they were Cordelia and Angel. Not the two subtlest people she knew.  
  
Fred's lips curved into a tiny smile as she pretended to keep on reading, completely aware that Angel had not looked at the book he was holding for at least five minutes. Someone else might have found the situation uncomfortable, but Fred, for one, simply found it amusing. Besides, she respected their choice to figure things out before bringing it out in the open. It was only natural, especially since their relationship was one that was bound to be complicated. And it wasn't as if they were desperately trying to hide it... The guys were just blind.  
  
Very blind.  
  
"Man...What's up?" Gunn frowned, as Angel snapped out of his gaze with shock.  
  
His head snapped and he stared at Gunn, horrified. Fred couldn't help the laughter that escaped her throat, which she forced down immediately after. Cordy innocently lowered her eyes down to her book, trying not to smile.  
  
"Nothing. Nothing is up." Angel emphasized with a little embarrassment while Gunn and Wesley shot him a confused and concerned look.  
  
The two girls held back a burst of laughter at Angel's distressed tone. Wesley turned to face them just as they were managing to put back on some distorted form of serious faces. Sensing the awkward silence in which they suddenly found themselves, Fred dropped her book on the table and decided to take control of the situation.  
  
"You know what..." she exclaimed as if she'd just remembered something extremely important. "I just remembered that we have this book that could help..." she said with an overdose of enthusiasm.  
  
"What book?" Gunn asked, curious.  
  
"This book that I have..." Fred emphasized, as both, Cordy and Angel looked at her silently.  
  
"I don't remember any book on green, gloomy, dud-infested hallways..." he countered.  
  
"Yes...I..." Fred insisted, getting up suddenly. "I am positive that I have this book...back at the hotel." she heavily emphasized.  
  
By that time, Cordy had figured out exactly what Fred was trying to do. She considered stopping her but the scene was just a tad too amusing for her to get up the courage to break it off.  
  
"It can't hurt to look into it, since we have no clue what that vision meant..." Gunn agreed, getting up as well.  
  
Fred waited for Wesley to follow their lead but he didn't. She rolled her eyes and walked towards him, pulling on his arm until he was up. He looked at her, a little confused by her sudden behavior.  
  
"You're coming too." she smiled.  
  
"Why? You guys can surely find the book and bring it back here without me..." he began but Fred immediately interrupted him.  
  
"No." she informed him quickly. "We need you....you're...." she searched for something that would convince him. "You're the brain." she finished with a bright smile.  
  
Wesley seemed pleased with the compliment and Fred proceeded to drag the two guys to the door. Then, Wesley stopped and turned to face Cordelia and Angel, who both looked conspicuously quiet. But, of course, only Fred really noticed.  
  
"Aren't you guys coming as well?" Wesley inquired from the kitchen entrance.  
  
Fred pulled on his arm forcefully, which stunned him a little.  
  
"And leave this mess to Dennis?!" she exclaimed in a very convincing manner according to Cordelia. "We'll call you if we find anything." Fred smiled at Angel and Cordy.  
  
Cordelia got up and walked her friends to the door. Wesley, Fred and Gunn disappeared into the night just as she closed the door behind them. A tiny, amused grin came over her lips as she stared at her own front door. She slowly turned around, and with a little sigh, leaned against the door behind her. Her bright eyes caught Angel's tall figure standing at a fair distance from where she was. He was staring at her with these eyes that she recognized so well.  
  
Those eyes. She could easily get lost in them.  
  
"There isn't any book, is there?" Angel softly pondered out loud, which made Cordelia smile brightly.  
  
"Most definitely not." was her only amused answer.  
  
Angel carefully, and slowly, took a step forward, getting closer and closer to her as he spoke.  
  
"...She did that on purpose..." he couldn't help the genuine grin that passed on his lips for an instant.  
  
"Big time..." Cordy replied, her voice a little lower, now that he was standing inches away from her.  
  
Her back was still leaning against the door when Angel stopped walking. He cautiously lowered his face a little, as if he was going to whisper the softest secret to her ear. They seemed to stand still for a few seconds, lips millimeters away from one another, eyes locked in a transcendent embrace...  
  
"We should tell her that's unnecessary..." he unconvincingly offered, referring to Fred's little stunt with the guys.  
  
Cordelia attempted a nod, which came across just as convincing as Angel's words.  
  
"Sure..." she whispered in an automatic voice.  
  
As soon as the words had left her mouth, her lips were pressed against Angel's, dancing a dance they had both been craving for a while now. Angel felt her fingers softly brush the back of his neck. They marveled for a moment in the delicious embrace of their kiss before finally pulling away, still holding one another. A tiny grin - one of those he secretly reserved only for her - came across his lips. Cordelia couldn't help but return his smile, even as their faces stood inches apart.  
  
"Hi." Angel whispered, suddenly at a lack for words.  
  
"Hi." Cordy replied, staring into his eyes.  
  
Angel sighed and rested his forehead against hers.  
  
"I've been wanting to do this all day." He finally admitted, which brought a satisfied smile on Cordelia's face.  
  
"I've been wanting you to do this all day." she assured him.  
  
She then lifted her head up to his and kissed him softly. He wrapped his arms tighter around her as they heard the sound of the TV being turned off. Obviously unaffected by Dennis' not-so-subtle way of making his presence known, Cordy and Angel let a tiny, muffled giggle escape their throats as they continued kissing.  
  
Suddenly the lights went out and an intense silence invaded Cordelia's apartment. Cordy sighed, pulled away from Angel's embrace and shook her head softly.  
  
"Dennis.." She muttered, taking a step towards the living room. "Dennis, you're freaking out again." she warned him as she turned the lights back on in the living room.  
  
Ever since the little incident a month back between Angel and Cordy, Dennis had been a little worried, and overly protective of Cordelia. He had witnessed first-hand what facing Angelus and killing him had done to her, and the last thing he wanted was for Angelus to somehow resurface. He had become a little edgy whenever Cordy and Angel were alone, and even though Cordelia had done her best to reassure her favorite ghost, Dennis still sometimes had a problem with the newfound closeness between his friend and the vampire.  
  
"It's just kissing Dennis." Cordy reminded him from the doorway. "Chill." She then laughed, as if she was explaining the ways of life to a 6 year- old.  
  
"Is there still a problem with Dennis and." Angel frowned as Cordelia grabbed his hand and led him into the living room.  
  
"Dennis is just being Dennis. There is no prob." she began but suddenly stopped mid-sentence.  
  
Her face dropped and she felt a loud pounding in her brain, as if it was about to explode in millions of tiny pieces. Her breath got caught in her throat and in less time than it took Angel to realize that something was wrong, Cordelia crashed onto the floor with a painful agonizing cry. She grabbed her head with sudden despair as Angel threw himself on the floor beside her.  
  
VISION  
  
[I]She saw images of chains, heard the sound of them clinging together. These images were intercepted with the sight of a large green corridor in which someone ran desperately.  
  
Blood spreading on the floor.  
  
The bright flashes of light blinded her vision for a few seconds. She saw the shadow of someone chained to a wall and then the bright lights appeared again, like the sun in the middle of summer.  
  
Water.  
  
She couldn't breathe..all she could see was water. Water everywhere..only water.  
  
END VISION  
  
The screaming stopped.  
  
The agitation ceased.  
  
Just as Angel's panic grew. He turned Cordelia over on her back only to find her unconscious. He shouted her name a couple of times but Cordelia never opened her eyes. She never responded.  
  
She never got up.  
  
The panic on Angel's face became obvious at the second he noticed the small traces of blood coming from Cordy's mouth. He grabbed her unconscious body and gathered her into his arms as his eyes filled with fear. Her body was shaking, as if she was receiving shockwaves.  
  
"Dennis!" Angel shouted, as he carried Cordelia to her bedroom.  
  
Just as the name had left his lips, Dennis pushed the door to Cordy's bedroom open while Angel helped Cordelia inside. He carefully laid her on the bed, fearfully whispering her name in that soft, worried tone of his.  
  
"Cordy..Cordy come on."  
  
Angel's eyes automatically filled with invisible tears as he reached to touch the side of her face.  
  
The moment he did so, he was thrown across the room violently. His body flew until he hit the wall behind the door.  
  
--  
  
The air was cool.  
  
All she could feel was the wetness on her face. She suddenly reminded herself to breathe, and that's when the panic began. She couldn't breathe.  
  
She was lying in the water.  
  
Cordelia was thrust back to consciousness and she jumped up. Her head snapped and as it emerged from the inch of water that covered the cold rocky ground, she gasped for air. Her hair was slightly wet, as were her clothes as she breathlessly looked around herself.  
  
Her vision was a bit blurry but all she could make out in the dark were rocky walls, a low ceiling and lots of water. She was crawling in about an inch of water.in what looked like a creepy cave.  
  
Her body aching, her heart racing and her hands bleeding, Cordy inhaled rapidly as fear settled in.  
  
Where was she?  
  
She held her breath for a moment. Her voice filled with fear, she spoke:  
  
"Now [b]this[/b] could be a problem." she said to herself, trying not to panic.  
  
-- 


	2. The Journey Begins...

CHAPTER 2 - The Journey Begins  
  
  
  
Angel's hands clutched one of Cordelia's as he sat on the bed, beside her. His eyes were nearly prying for one single move.one she never made. She had not opened her eyes ever since the horrific vision had hit her. The only thing that reassured him was the rhythmic sound of her heartbeat. It calmed him just enough so he wouldn't go over the edge and start acting and talking hastily. He lowered his eyes as the voices filled the room once more, focusing on the desperate grip he had on Cordelia's fingers.  
  
"How long has it been?" Fred asked from the other side of the room.  
  
"Nearly an hour and a half." Wesley judged fit to answer since Angel didn't seem to be listening anymore.  
  
Fred, Wesley, Gunn and Lorne stood at the foot of the bed, looking in on Cordelia's unconscious form. Lorne seemed slightly scared, while Wesley came across as unusually agitated.  
  
"I don't understand. This should not have happened." Wesley mumbled in shock as he paced the floor. "I thought Cordy claimed that her visions were painless now."  
  
"They are." Angel responded through clenched teeth. "They usually are."  
  
"Then this isn't the work of those mighty Powers." Lorne concluded, breaking his long silence. "Of course, I'm assuming this has never happened before." He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"It definitely hasn't." A worried Fred informed him.  
  
"It wouldn't make any sense for the Powers to send Cordelia such a vision and not let her wake up to tell Angel cakes about it. It defeats the whole purpose of this process." Lorne added, brewing some thoughts of his own. "They wouldn't do that. It's not how they work, especially with you two." He continued, addressing Angel now. "Considering how close you two have gotten in the past month or so," he said in a pensive tone.  
  
"What do you mean?" Gunn frowned as he and Wesley noticed how Fred elbowed Lorne dramatically.  
  
"Beyond the point." Lorne stated, realizing his little slip.  
  
Angel had not taken his eyes off of Cordelia. He couldn't. He wasn't even paying attention to anything that happened around him.at least not enough to respond to it. All he cared about was finding a way to wake her up from that forced unconsciousness.  
  
"How do we bring her back?" Angel demanded, his emotions audible in the sharp tone of his voice.  
  
"The first question we should be asking ourselves is 'where'. We need to know where she is in order to find a way to bring her back." Wesley argued, his nose rummaging through an ancient book.  
  
"I don't have time for this Wesley." Angel whispered back, obviously feeling like he was running out of time. "I don't have time for fancy research. We need to bring her back!" he emphasized.  
  
All the others fell silent, while Fred and Lorne exchanged a knowing glance.  
  
"You need to calm down and think rationally." The ex-watcher advised, getting up from his chair.  
  
"I will not calm down.not until we have her here and safe." he muttered through his teeth.  
  
"I understand how you would do anything for Cordelia, like you did in Pylea, but now is not the time to let your judgment be clouded by emotions Angel. We can't go blindly into this." Wesley began in an authoritarian voice.  
  
"My judgment is perfectly fine!" Angel frustratingly shot back, raising his voice.  
  
Fred immediately came between the two guys when she felt the conversation was getting out of hand - not to mention going nowhere.  
  
"Okay guys." she sighed.  
  
Angel had not moved from his chair, nor had he let go of Cordelia's motionless hand. Wesley took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with a tired hand.  
  
"If Cordy was awake, she'd slap you both. And we've all seen what a right hook she has when she puts her heart into it." Fred stated. "We're all worried here, so let's not say things we could regret, and let's just concentrate on finding out what's going on and how to rectify it. Yes, we need to know what is happening first, but yes again, we need to find it quick.very quick." she added before taking a deep breath.  
  
"I totally agree." Gunn finally spoke, wrapping an arm around Fred's shoulders.  
  
"Have I mentioned how I like her?" Lorne said in amazement from the side.  
  
They all looked at one another for a few seconds. Right as Wesley was about to apologize for his rationality, the attention swerved back to Cordelia again, whose nose began bleeding all of a sudden. Angel got up and grabbed a t-shirt from one of Cordy's dressers and used it to wipe the blood from her nose, all the while being careful not to touch her skull. IF there was one thing that he had figured out was that whatever was happening, it involved Cordy's head, which appeared untouchable at the moment.  
  
Angel sat on the bed beside her as a small tear welled up in his eyes.  
  
"I'm going to get you out of there." he whispered to her. "I promise." he said in an emotion-filled voice.  
  
"Angel." Wesley said in a compassionate tone.  
  
"We need to find a way to wake her up." Angel's eyes were pleading. Begging.  
  
"You can't." a voice rang from the doorway.  
  
The whole room fell silent, as all eyes turned to the familiar voice. Angel's eyes locked with the person standing at the entrance of Cordelia's bedroom.  
  
Emily.  
  
Angel knew that if she has been sent down here, something must be awfully wrong. A sense of panic invaded him.  
  
"You can't wake her up." Emily regretfully informed them. "She's trapped in there."  
  
--  
  
Cordelia managed to lift herself up from the watery floor, shifting her weight from her hands to her knees. Her clothes were getting wet and if not for her fright, she would have remembered to shiver. She pulled herself up to her feet.  
  
The place seemed to spin around for a moment, her surroundings being a simple blur. She quickly brought her hand to her nose and wiped some blood away from her face. Once her eyes finally got accustomed to the darkness, she noticed how creepy and cold the place way. She called out for Angel a couple of times but a long silence is all she got as an answer. The place looked like some sort of cave and she noticed three separate tunnels in front of her, each leading into more darkness and more unknown. Cordy hesitated for a while, pondering her options. Holding her breath, she glared from one tunnel to the other.  
  
"Why do these things always happen to me.?" she muttered to herself as she headed into the middle one.  
  
--  
  
"She's trapped inside the vision?! But, how is that possible.?" Gunn asked Emily.  
  
"Not inside the vision." She responded, never leaving Angel out of her sight. "Inside her own head." She continued as they all looked at her a bit confused, but mostly, very concerned.  
  
Emily was standing in front of her, her long dark hair falling gracefully on her shoulders, her brown eyes fixated on Angel and Cordelia, and her voice ever so wise and knowing. She looked like any normal 17-year-old, but she sounded more like their conscience. Like their Angel. Like their guide.  
  
As soon as the words left Emily's mouth, objects from Cordy's dressers and nightstand - pictures, clothes, lamps, drawers, the phone - began crashing to the floor.  
  
"What the hell." Gunn mouthed to himself as they all watched, horrified.  
  
"Dennis??" Angel called out and the smashing of Cordelia's belongings stopped.  
  
They all watched as a big black marker was lifted into the air by the overly agitated ghost. He brought the pen to the door and began writing on it. The first word spelled out VENGENCE.  
  
"Whose vengeance?" Angel demanded and the marker began moving again.  
  
SHE'S BACK  
  
He wrote it in big, bold letters so that everyone could see. They all stared until Emily spoke up to Dennis.  
  
"It's okay, Dennis.Everything's going to be okay." her voice tried to be as reassuring as she could at this point.  
  
"Who's back?" Fred asked, a little confused.  
  
MOTHER  
  
Fred looked even more out of the loop but Gunn and Wesley shot her a look that said they'd explain later. Angel's eyes began demanding as the little information he now had settled in.  
  
"The Powers sent me because they have unsuccessfully been trying to warn you - as Dennis did - about what was going to happen. It seems that Cordelia's previous not-so-friendly roommate escaped from the demon prison in which she'd been sent." Emily began explaining.  
  
"She's a demon?" Wesley frowned.  
  
"She's no Casper." Emily pointed out. "Believe me, I know."  
  
"What did she do to Cordy?" Angel asked, his eyes riveted on the young ghostly messenger he had come to care about.  
  
"She's trapped Cordy inside her own head. She broke into Cordy's mind and locked Cordelia in there with her." Emily finally told them. "Remember that guy who hacked into her head once and sent her those fake visions once?" Angel nodded. "Well, this time, it's the opposite. The demon doesn't send things into Cordy's head.she pulls them in and locks them there."  
  
"Why?" Fred could not help but ask.  
  
Emily found herself pondering that question for a moment.  
  
"Because it's a game." Emily painfully informed them. "At least to her. She makes Cordy a prisoner in her own mind..and if Cordy can't find the way out..she loses." She whispered, glancing at Cordelia's body on the bed.  
  
"How do we get her out?!?" Angel asked in a demanding and frighteningly controlled tone. "Emily." he pleaded, taking a step towards her.  
  
"You can't." Emily whispered. "Unless you go in there with her."  
  
--  
  
Cordelia stood at a crossroad with a choice of two different tunnels. Taking a deep breath, she shrugged and began heading in the one at her left.  
  
"I swear when I wake up from this nightmare I am going to kick." she began as she hesitantly walked into the tunnel.  
  
She stopped mid-sentence when she arrived in a large treasure room.  
  
All around her, hanging on the humid walls, were framed pictures of what appeared to be legendary demons. Some of them she vividly remembered Angel killing as well. The place nearly looked like a shrine, or so she thought. The round room bathed in semi-darkness and Cordelia forced herself to survey the place until her eyes fell upon somebody standing in the middle of the room.  
  
The stranger wore a black monk outfit that hid most of her face very well.  
  
"I've been expecting you Cordelia." The deep throaty voice claimed.  
  
Cordy gasped, trying to remain calm. Or at least pretend to be somewhat calmer than she actually felt.  
  
"Funny." she nervously breathed out. "'Cause I wasn't expecting you." she added.  
  
Just as she spoke, her attention shifted to the paintings surrounding her. One by one, she felt as if they wavered, danced.moved. They slowly began moving on their own, making the paint crack a little. Cordelia jumped when an arm jolted out of one of the paintings, and much to her own growing panic, the frightening movement was repeated with practically all paintings. Cordy's heart began racing as she stood, frozen, staring as the demons in the paintings suddenly became alive. All too fleshy for her own taste. All too real for her own safety.  
  
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when one of the demons jumped out of his painting entirely - a motion that was followed by dozens of other beasts.  
  
"Now [b]that[/b] could be more than a problem." she muttered to herself, staring at the scene around her. "Okay." she then began in a tone which failed at its attempt to remain calm. "I have no idea where we are or how I got here for that matter.or what's going on." she blurted out, obvious fear betraying her voice. "But I obviously did not mean to interrupt.whatever.this.whatever this gathering is..so.."she managed to say, taking a few steps backwards. "I'll just be on my way out."  
  
"Oh, I don't think so." The dark stranger laughed, snapping her fingers.  
  
Two gigantic demons violently grabbed Cordy by the arms, holding her still. She tried to free herself but their grip was firm, strong and savage. She found herself hurting more as she attempted to fight them off. They forcefully restrained her as she breathlessly stared at the mysterious monk look alike in front of her.  
  
"See." the voice informed a now panicked and sweaty Cordelia. "There is no way out."  
  
--  
  
"Are you sure about this." Lorne asked from his chair in the corner.  
  
"There's no time to think. I'm not going to let her die." Angel argued, getting up from the bed for the first time in the last hour or so.  
  
"We don't even know how to get in there." Lorne reminded him cautiously.  
  
Emily inhaled deeply and looked at the two of them straight in the eyes.  
  
"I do." She confessed.  
  
Somehow relieved by that statement, Angel moved towards her. He had not taken one step yet that Emily knew exactly what he was about to say next.  
  
"Alright, then let's go." He hurriedly spoke.  
  
"Angel." Fred gently pitched in, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"We're wasting time here! We can't afford to play with Cordy's life like that.Let's go!" he exclaimed, obviously desperate to do anything to bring Cordelia back to consciousness.  
  
No matter the risk or the impossibility that stared him in the face.  
  
"Angel." Emily said, a grave expression on her face. "There are some things in there that you may not want to see." She whispered to him in an emotional statement. The questioning look on their faces prompted her to expand on that last information. "Everything she thinks.everything about her is in her head. All the things she fears; all the things she loves." she added, her voice growing more caring and worried with each syllable. "All the things she's seen or felt or lived. It's all imprinted in her mind, Angel. Her hopes, her joys, her tears and her laughs. All her pain and her memories. All the things that make her stronger than she even allows herself to believe, and all those which make her weak and vulnerable. All the stuff she wishes she could forget." Emily looked into Angel's worried eyes. "All the things she would never tell anybody.. The good and the bad.and the buried." she added as they all listened in silence. "Every second she has ever lived - whether she wants to remember or not - is in there." She paused for a moment and swallowed back her own bubbling emotions. "Some of these things you may not be prepared to see."  
  
Angel swallowed the lump he felt deep inside his throat and just looked at her.  
  
"And I know that you don't care, and that you're going to go in there anyway.and I don't even want to stop you." Emily confessed, obviously worried herself. "Because I want you to bring her back." she hid the small tear in her eye. "I just want you to be aware of what awaits you in there." She whispered. "Cordy's a lot more than witty comebacks and sarcasm. There is more to her that you may not know about. I just want you to be prepared."  
  
"I am." Angel finally assured her in a soft, understanding tone.  
  
Emily nodded, knowing by the look on his face that he, indeed, was aware. Fred cautiously broke the silence that followed.  
  
"You're not going alone then." She stated, stepping beside Angel. "I'm going too." she saw that he was about to protest so she did not leave him time to speak. "I care about Cordelia too, and I'm not going to sit here and do nothing." she seemed intent and determined. "I'm going too Angel."  
  
"So am I." Wesley and Gunn both said at the same time  
  
Fred gave Lorne an inquiring look as he paused and looked at them intently.  
  
"Hey," he said, joining them. "Whatever it takes to bring Princess back."  
  
Not knowing what they'd face, what they'd see or encounter, they all chose to go. Not knowing if they'd ever come back, they were all determined on going.  
  
Angel turned to Emily again.  
  
"Are you coming too?" Angel asked an unusually quiet Emily.  
  
A sad look spread across the young angel's face.  
  
"I can't." she answered, almost dreadfully. "I physically can't." she emphasized as a regretful expression clouded her eyes. "Besides.I may already be in there.who knows." she then proceeded to tell them.  
  
"So how do we bring her back?" Gunn asked her.  
  
Emily glanced at all of them one by one and it pained her to have to answer.  
  
"I don't know." she confessed, calmly. "You'll have to find that out once you're in there." she told them, wishing she had more information to guide them through. "It's like a video game in there, except there's no reset button or extra lives growing out of yellow shrimps.It's like a system virus you need to destroy."  
  
"How do we destroy her?" Angel asked.  
  
"By beating her at her own game." Emily told him. "You just need to find the way out, that's all."  
  
"What happens if we don't?" Angel inquired despite himself.  
  
Emily paused, her eyes growing fearful under his stare. The young girl took a deep breath and held his stare with surprising assurance. But it wasn't enough to mask her impending sadness over the answer she was about to give him.  
  
"If she dies while you're in there.you're not coming back." She reluctantly answered, prompting a long pause amidst the conversation. "If you're not prepared to take that risk, then don't go."  
  
"What about us? What happens if one of us dies in there?" Lorne questioned.  
  
Emily couldn't answer that. She didn't own the answer to that question.  
  
"I don't know that either." she regretfully offered. "You'll just have to try not to." She whispered, cautiously.  
  
"Sorry I asked." Lorne berated himself.  
  
"All I know is that your only way out will be Cordy. She gets out; you're all getting out." Emily continued and then paused momentarily. "She dies.you all die with her."  
  
"We'll bring her back. We have to." Angel said, taking an unnecessary breath as he and Emily shared a compassionate glance.  
  
On that note, they all gathered around Cordelia's bed. Getting ready for the very demanding process, Emily asked them all to hold hands, adding the importance of "not letting go" if they wanted to end up at the same place. Emily closed her eyes, grabbed one of Angel's hands simultaneously touching Cordelia's forehead, and concentrated. An electrifying flash of light shot through her, draining the young ghost of all her energy. After a few seconds of that painful process, Emily fell to the ground helplessly.  
  
--  
  
Angel, Wesley, Fred, Gunn and Lorne hit the grass underneath them violently. A tiny groan escaped Angel's throat as his head hit the ground.  
  
They all looked up and found themselves staring at their surroundings. They were lying on the grass in what appeared to be a large forest at night. The moon was blood red, the air rather cool and the atmosphere strangely cryptic.  
  
Angel got up to his feet, surveying the horizon. The others followed his lead, in dreadful silence, until a bird's cry startled Fred. She nearly jumped out of her skin, grabbing Lorne's jacket with both hands. Gunn patted the bottom of his pants while Wesley stared at the millions of trees surrounding them. The entire forest bathed in a darkness and sense of doom that did not fail to leave them vulnerable. It was cold.  
  
It was dark.  
  
It was.unfamiliar.  
  
They began to take a few steps forward when they all stopped.  
  
Angel frowned when he saw something moving in the shadows, unable to depict what it was. They all just stared into the night.  
  
"And she said [I]you[/I] needed some colors.?" Fred them mumbled to Angel as she looked around from behind his shoulder. 


	3. Through the Woodland

Chapter 3 - Through The Woodland  
  
The more she pulled on her arms, the tighter they were holding her back. After a few unsuccessful attempts to break free, she stopped and glared at the faceless demon standing in front of her.  
  
"Who the hell are you?" Cordy nearly spit out through her teeth.  
  
"All in good time, my dear.All in good time." The voice sounded strangely familiar to Cordelia.  
  
"Get your goons here to get their dirty paws off of me or." Cordelia began to get agitated once more.  
  
Cordy heard what resembled laughter coming out of her captor's throat.  
  
"My goons?" Now the voice could clearly be identified as an amused woman. "My goons?!" she laughed bitterly. "Oh dear - I merely control them. You conjured them up all on your own. For the most part at least. So, technically, they're [i]your[/i] goons." She informed Cordelia with a very pleased tone.  
  
"You're crazy." Cordy muttered, almost to herself.  
  
"Well," the female demon laughed again. "Considering this is your head, I would say I'm in good company."  
  
Cordelia stared at her, trying an impromptu move to jerk away from the two demons holding her back. Unfortunately, her attempts were in vain once again. She eyed her up and down and noticed the poor taste in which her demon enemy was dressed.  
  
"Well, I surely didn't conjure [b]you[/b] up.I still have [i]some[/i] fashion sense." she concluded, looking at the monk outfit with which the demon hid herself.  
  
Cordelia froze at the bitter sound of the demon's laughter. Her heart almost skipped a beat while the demons holding her back tightened their grip around her and jerked her around a little. Cordy let a little painful noise come out of her mouth as they twisted her arm backward to steady her.  
  
"Aren't you having fun?"  
  
"What?!" Cordy exclaimed.  
  
"Doesn't any of this look familiar to you?" she asked Cordy, looking around emphatically. "Well.admittedly, I may have tempered with the setting and content a bit too much for it to ring a bell, but still." she turned to Cordy again. "Welcome to the freak show that is you my dear!" she then exclaimed with a burst of laughter, throwing her arms in the air. "I get a feeling this will be fun."  
  
Consumed by a sudden burst of energy - probably boosted by fear and annoyance - Cordy snatched her arm away from one of the ugly demons and punched him in the face with as much strength as she could possibly conjure up. She then violently elbowed the other before kicking him in the stomach and finally breaking free from them.  
  
The whole group of demons became agitated and rushed towards her as she ran out the door, the same way she'd gotten in. She kept on running through the corridors, looking over her shoulder once in a while, not really paying attention to which tunnels she took. A group of demons started after her and a chase rapidly ensued.  
  
Out of breath, she stormed her way from tunnel to tunnel, desperately attempting to escape the savage troupes on her tail. Her feet hit the watery floor one by one in a quick rhythm, running for her life.  
  
--  
  
Angel, Fred, Gunn, Wesley and Lorne took a few steps forward, staring into the dark forest.  
  
Trees and trees and only trees.  
  
That's all that seemed to be in sight. A cool breeze made the leaves rustle in the night.  
  
"Are we in the right place?" Gunn raised an eyebrow. "This is Cordy's subconscious??!"  
  
"You bet." Lorne answered in an experienced tone. "What? What did you expect.?"  
  
"I.I don't know. Versace fashion shows, The Hollywood Hall Of Fame.Macy's." Gunn began as a reply, as they started to walk. ".Lots more colors." he added, looking around at the dark atmosphere.  
  
"Okay.so we're inside Cordy's head. The question is where exactly." Angel mumbled, looking around for a sign of anything familiar.  
  
He had to remind himself that this wasn't all Cordy's doing. Her mind had been possessed and tempered with. Emily had said that it was a labyrinth in here. A game.  
  
He game he couldn't afford to lose.  
  
"Maybe she knows." Fred's voice was heard suddenly.  
  
At a fair distance from them, a young little girl of no more than 11 years old stood in the shadow of a tree. Not an inch of her fragile frame moved, except for her long dark hair being softly blown in the wind. She was staring at them with sad eyes. Deep sad eyes. Her arms fell beside her waist gracefully. She didn't reply when Wesley addressed her, nor when Angel asked her name. She was utterly silent.  
  
They began to head towards her, Angel leading the pack, and that's when she finally moved, proving at least that she was real. She took a step back, almost frightened, as Angel approached her. The sad look in her eyes never vanished, even as she stepped behind the tree, out of their sight. Struck with a negative feeling, Angel hurried the pace, running towards the tree, where the little girl had disappeared. When he got to the tree, she was gone. She had disappeared completely from the face of the earth, as if she'd never even existed in the first place. The gang surveyed the darkness for a little while, taken back by the little girl's strange behavior.  
  
"Who was that?" Gunn inquired, leaning against the tree for a second.  
  
"I don't know." Angel couldn't even finish his sentence, for the loud scream of terror that escaped Gunn's throat alerted them all.  
  
The ground moved from under Gunn and he felt something creep up his back, as if the tree suddenly had a mind of his own. Gunn didn't even have time to turn his head around that one of the branches had grabbed him by the throat and began strangling him. Gunn tried to shout out for help once more but nothing came out of his mouth. He couldn't breathe anymore. Angel, Fred and Wesley threw themselves on the botanical attacker, trying to free Gunn. The lively tree seemed to be much too strong for them and Fred was thrown onto the ground violently. Wesley reached into his jacket and pulled out a dagger that angel had given him as a present. He stabbed the demonic tree several times, prompting orange sticky glue to pour out of its insides. Nothing seemed to be weakening it. After a few unsuccessful efforts, he managed to cut the branch completely.  
  
Gunn breathlessly crumbled to his knees, repulsively throwing the branch far away from him. As far away as possible. He gasped for air.  
  
"Are you okay?" Fred quickly asked with concern while she and Lorne helped him up to his feet.  
  
"The girl needs a shrink!" Gunn exclaimed, rubbing his throat and breathing deeply.  
  
"After this.she won't be the only one.believe me." Lorne sighed, shaking his head.  
  
Angel raised both eyebrows as he looked behind Gunn. The shock on his face didn't make its way to his oblivious partners.  
  
"Huh..Guys.?" he worriedly interjected.  
  
"I mean, what's with the." Gunn continued rambling, not hearing Angel's warning tone.  
  
".With the living and moving trees surrounding us?" Angel then finished, pointing at the dozens of lively trees behind them, waiting to attack.  
  
They all turned and got struck by a sudden panic.  
  
"Let's go!" Angel then shouted as they all ran in the opposite direction as fast as they could.  
  
On their way, Angel kicked a few smaller trees out of the road while Wesley slaughtered some more with his gooey dagger so that they could make their escape.  
  
--  
  
Cordelia abruptly stopped running when she got to a doorway. Another dead end.  
  
Another one of a million dead ends she'd run into thus far.  
  
She breathlessly stared at the tall brick wall in front of her. A few strands of hair fell before her eyes and she quickly shot a look over her shoulder, making sure nothing demony had caught up with her.  
  
"Great!" she gritted, irritation bursting out of her.  
  
Her eyes moved down to the water she was still standing on. It was covering the entire floor, and she could have sworn that she saw something move in one of the corners nearby. She held her breath and then threw her arms in the air, obviously embittered by the whole thing.  
  
"So this is it?!? This is my head???!!" she exclaimed in anger and disbelief. "Creepy much.??" she frustratingly berated herself before spinning around and running into another direction.  
  
--  
  
After exhausting themselves running, the gang finally reached the end of the woodland and found themselves at the door of a large castle. Angel was the first one to reach the tall, solid - not to mention locked - door. He had one thing on h is mind: FINDING CORDELIA. She occupied each and every one of his thoughts at that point. Angel clenched his fists in Anger and proceeded in kicking the door of the castle open with one foot. The piece of wood crashed onto the floor with a resounding noise, and Angel was the first one to enter the building.  
  
"We need to find her.she must be in here somewhere." Angel reminded the others as they stepped inside the room behind him.  
  
They unconsciously formed a nearly perfect line in the middle of the entrance.  
  
Not quite perfect.  
  
One of them was missing.  
  
To Angel's right, Gunn and Wesley stared in front of themselves. To his left, Fred and Lorne did the same. Angel shot a confused look over his shoulder and noticed that the door through which they had entered had now vanished, only to be replaced by a white wall.  
  
In front of them, ten different doors patiently waited to be opened. The gang all stayed silent for a very short while, pondering which one to open first. The fear of what might wait on the other side slowly began creeping up inside of them. Then, Gunn stepped forward and picked the first door.  
  
"Here goes nothing." he muttered, turning the doorknob.  
  
He opened the door as Angel and Fred stood by his side. The three of them literally stood still, a little stunned, as they discovered what hid behind the first door of Cordelia's subconscious.  
  
Inside, Cordelia was sitting on a bed, bathed in dimmed light. Her hair gracefully fell on each side of her face and her eyes sparkled in the night. Kneeling in front of her on the floor, admiring every line of her face, a shirtless Angel pushed Cordelia's blouse off of her shoulders. Cordy rid herself of the piece of clothing before her lips pressed against his with hidden passion.  
  
Lost in the depth of their kiss. Skin pressed against skin. Hands slowly discovering.  
  
Gunn quickly shut the door as he and Fred stood, eyes wide and mouth agape. Angel shot them a tiny embarrassing look from the side. The scene had been just as he remembered, and he was actually relieved Gunn had shut the door before any of them saw a little more than they should. Sure, that night had ended with Cordy killing Angelus, but the part prior to that was a very clear and pleasant memory in Angel's mind. One he didn't wish to share with the rest of his friends.  
  
"I [b]so[/b] did not need to see that." Gunn sighed, a little perturbed by the imagery in his head now.  
  
"Yes well." Angel began with his apologetic, boyish glance towards an equally stunned Fred.  
  
They all paused and then Angel regained clearer thoughts.  
  
"We should break up into groups and head into different directions," he began, bringing the focus back on what mattered. "We have better chances of finding Cordy that way."  
  
"He's right. Our search will be much more successful if we search that way." Wesley agreed.  
  
They decided that Angel and Wesley would head off into one direction while Lorne, Fred and Gunn explored another.  
  
"Wait." Fred called out just before they broke up. "How will we know if you find her and how will you know if we do?" she asked a serious angel.  
  
"Emily said the key is Cordy." Angel pointed out, trying to find a solution. "The only way to get back is for Cordy to get out."  
  
"Oh, like the bees!" Fred exclaimed as everyone turned to her curiously. "You get the queen, you get the whole gang. That's kind of like that if you think about it. We get Cordelia out, we're all out. So the key is to get Cordy to find the exit door.if she's free, we automatically all are, right.?" she rambled on, surprisingly making a lot of sense.  
  
"Right." Angel agreed with her strange, but nonetheless true logic. "So, whoever finds her first just tries to get her out of here as quickly as possible..in the meantime." Angel paused and stared at them all. "We just try to stay alive.." He said as they all stayed silent for a bit.  
  
They all shared a pause, a common fear covering their faces. Then, Angel and Wesley headed towards one of the doors, as did Gunn and the others, and they all disappeared into the labyrinth that was Cordelia's mind.  
  
--  
  
As she was running, she tripped and fell hard on the wet ground. Her body splashed into the water.  
  
Cordelia quickly recovered from the fall and jumped back to her feet. Her hair and clothes now soaking wet, she continued to make her way through a long dark corridor that seemed to go on forever. As she was rushing forward, she noticed some windows and doors not so far ahead. Clearly out of breath and in dire need for some hiding place, Cordy stopped in front of a small window on the wall. As she peaked through it, she froze and her eyes grew wide.  
  
The scene displayed in the other room felt very familiar to her.  
  
Much too familiar for her own taste.  
  
There was her mother..her dad.herself and a whole crowd of people she vaguely remembered as being her parents' acquaintances. They were all in a huge ballroom, with chandeliers and garlands hanging from the ceiling. People were dancing, guests were laughing, and as it was often the case, Mr. And Mrs. Chase were busy ignoring the 10-year-old little girl that sat alone in one of the corners of the room. Sad and lonely eyes she had..  
  
Cordelia remembered that scene way too well.  
  
She backed away from the window, swallowing back the sudden overwhelming emotions that burst through her.  
  
"I lived that party..and once was more than enough." she mumbled to herself, choosing not to go into that room.  
  
As she was taking a few steps back, her back hit the wall behind her. She was trying to think clearly but the only thing she could think about was Angel and just how badly she wished he was here right now.  
  
Sure, she hated being overprotected but there were times when she could use his vampire strength and his manly overprotective tendencies..especially when demons seemed to burst out of everywhere to chase her at the moment.  
  
She closed her eyes momentarily and took a long, deep breath, pushing a few strands of wet hair behind her ears.  
  
"Angel, where are you..?" She whispered to herself as her eyes welled up with fear.  
  
Just as the words left her mouth, a loud, agonizing scream filled the corridors. A scream of pain. A scream of terror.  
  
A painful scream like no other she'd ever heard in her life. It made the blood freeze in her veins suddenly. Cordelia's eyes shot wide open, as the heartbreaking sound filled every inch of the cave in which she stood, and grabbed her by surprise.  
  
That voice.  
  
That pain.  
  
That scream.  
  
She knew that voice. 


	4. Lorne Of The Rings

CHAPTER 4 - Lorne Of The Rings  
  
Cordelia rushed through the corridors, following the familiar female scream. She tried to force practically every door on her way but none of them led to the person in agony that she could so vividly hear. Her feet splashed in the water in a rhythm that synchronized with her increasingly rapid heartbeat.  
  
She heard it again.  
  
A scream of fear.  
  
A scream of torture.  
  
The sound quickly led her to an enormous door with no window. She tried to open the door but it was clearly locked from the inside. With quick breaths, she began to try to kick the door open, but unsuccessfully. She was too busy trying to break in to notice that the screams had stop, only to leave an intense silence on the other side of the room.  
  
Cordelia turned around, quickly surveying her surroundings. Her eyes landed on a large sword hanging on the wall nearby. She jumped and grabbed it in a feverish move and headed back towards the door. A couple of sharp, methodical swing is all it took to break the lock and cut the doorknob entirely. Cordelia dropped the sword to the ground as she pushed the door open.  
  
She barely took the time to take note of her surroundings - a large room divided by a metallic cage-like wall - before her eyes landed on the object of such previous agony. Cordelia's eyes welled up with tears and she held her breath for a moment, taking in the painful sight that stood before her.  
  
"Oh my God." she muttered to herself as she threw herself towards the cage wall. "Emily." she said, still in shock but painfully aware that she couldn't' allow herself to stay that way for very long.  
  
If the cries of pain she'd heard before were any indication, the situation could get ugly.and fast.  
  
Cordy shook the cage wall with both of her hands, trying to get in, but she couldn't.  
  
Inside, Emily lied in an exhausted state of mind on a small white bed, straps firmly holding her hands on each side of her head. Her eyes swam in a shallow, confused state of emptiness. Small tears hid behind the stare she shot at the ceiling, while drops of blood rolled down the side of her face from the knife cuts on her right cheek.  
  
"Oh God.Emily??" Cordelia let out, her face entirely covered with a sudden sadness.  
  
Emily's fists were clenched, as if she had been busy trying to free herself, but in vain. Her jaw was solidly clenched as well, and Cordelia noticed a very disturbing and uncharacteristic anger in Emily's eyes. Yet, the young girl would not turn to look at her cousin, who stood on the other side of her room-sized cage.  
  
"Emily.look at me.Emily?!" Cordelia begged of her cousin, as she desperately clung to the grillage.  
  
"Go away." Emily finally spoke in a choked, pained voice that came off as a blend between a plea and an order.  
  
Cordelia simply stared in shock through the little square holes, taken aback by her cousin's response. Never had she seen Emily in such a state. Then, Cordy's eyes fell to the floor beside the bed on which Emily was tied up, and that's when it dawned upon her. There, on the ground, rested an empty needle, with which Cordelia assumed Emily had been injected.  
  
"No.Emily.look at me damnit! I'm not leaving you here." Cordelia said with the determination of a ten-men army.  
  
"Get out of here..Cordy." Emily breathed out in a faint tone that was filled with fear.  
  
"Emily." Cordelia argued, forcefully trying to break the cage wall with her hands.  
  
"Get away!" Emily shouted in a sudden burst of energy as she got agitated and pulled on her arms to break the straps, but without any success. "Get away from me.it's a trap." she warned an emotional Cordelia as she finally tilted her head enough to look at her.  
  
Emily's eyes were drowning in tears and desperate fears when Cordelia found her stare.  
  
"I can't leave you here." Cordelia whispered, forcing down the moral battle that had begun inside her head.  
  
"Yes you can." Emily whispered back through her teeth, urgently trying to convince Cordelia. "They're gonna kill you.." Emily added in a hushed and anxious tone.  
  
"Emily." Cordelia pleaded, unable to make herself leave.  
  
Her eyes were riveted on the beaten young girl lying on the bed, and nothing inside of her would let her leave. This was a trap. It was a trap. Emily would not be warning her of such if it wasn't. But, as she stared at the very much alive version of her cousin, her heart sunk lower than the deepest sea and she found herself unable to just run away.  
  
A loud noise was heard from outside the room, which prompted Cordelia to shoot a look over her shoulder and Emily to battle against her weakened state and try to free herself once more.  
  
"Get out Cordy.Get out while you still can!" Emily cried out as two large, buff demons burst into the room, holding weapons and a strait jacket.  
  
"Emily." Cordelia managed to let out just before the two immensely strong demons grabbed her by the arms and forced the straight jacket onto her.  
  
Cordelia kicked and screamed as they brutally strapped the jacket on her, hitting her if necessary and shouting at her to shut up.  
  
"Cordy!!" Emily shouted in vain as she watched the beasts hunt down her cousin.  
  
Cordelia fell to her knees, outrageously trying to free her arms but it was too late. The straight jacket was immobilizing her whole upper body. When she tried to kick one of the acne-prone demons, the other punched her on the face and she fell to the ground, unable to get up on her own. They then grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her up savagely. Blinded by the wet hair that now fell on her face, Cordelia still managed to catch a glimpse of a panicked Emily on the other side of the cage.  
  
One of the guys took a syringe out and stuck it in Cordelia's neck, making her cringe momentarily. IT didn't take much time for the sedative to begin to have its desired effect on Cordelia and she quickly weakened.  
  
"Let go of me!" Cordy spitted out as the forcefully dragged her out of the room. "Emily.!!!!" she shouted as they yanked her out of the doorway, with tremendous strength.  
  
A painfully stricken Emily fought against the straps that held her onto the bed but was unable to do anything to help her cousin. She closed her eyes as she felt a throbbing in her arms. Emily prayed a silent prayer to herself.  
  
"Angel, where are you.?" she whispered in a weak murmur.  
  
--  
  
Angel and Wesley found themselves in a dark corridor that reminded them of the caves in Pylea.  
  
"This is unexpectedly sinister." Wesley remarked as he and Angel carefully began their journey through the multitude of corridors.  
  
"This isn't Cordelia," Angel mumbled, as if he needed to remind himself of that fact. "At least not entirely."  
  
Both men kept strolling through the cave-like passages, and it didn't take them long to notice the constant water beneath their feet.  
  
"What do you think this is all about?" Wesley inquired while Angel bent down and dipped the tip of his fingers in the cold water.  
  
"I don't know." he simply answered in a pensive tone. "But there seems to be water everywhere." He added, looking up at the dark corridor. "I have a bad feeling about this Wesley. We need to find her, and fast." He muttered in a dire need to hide his panic.  
  
Still curious about the abundance of water imagery that haunted Cordy's head, the two made their way to the end of the corridor and passed some sort of threshold.  
  
"Angel, wait.maybe we shouldn't go in there. We don't know what could be there. We're unprepared." Wesley rambled on a little, but Angel dismissed his reluctance.  
  
"Cordy might be in there." he insisted. "Whatever is behind each and every one of those doors, we'll be unprepared for it."  
  
"What makes you so sure?" Wesley inquired. "After all, we do know Cordelia."  
  
"We know what she wants us to know." Angel said as he turned to face Wesley. "We know what she lets us know. Here...she has no control over what we stumble upon, and if Dennis' mother has anything to do with it, we'll only stumble upon the worse." he informed the former watcher, perfectly knowing he wasn't giving out any new information on the whole situation.  
  
On these words, Angel and Wesley walked through the threshold and stood in the doorway. Angel swallowed hardly as he surveyed the room, carefully taking in the sight that haunted him.  
  
He and Wesley stood at the entrance of what appeared to be a deserted cafeteria. From memory, Angel knew exactly which cafeteria this was. Sunnydale High. Not one sound could be heard in the large room. Wesley and Angel nearly froze at the realization that the Sunnydale High cafeteria was slightly different than the one in reality. Instead of tables, there were huge, giant-sized bouquets of flowers, and instead of chairs were somber, rock-solid gravestones.  
  
"Oh my." Wesley let slip out as he looked from left to right, stunned and slightly frightened by the grimness of what he was seeing.  
  
Angel took a couple of steps forward, entering the room fully. His eyes traced invisible lines on each stones, recognizing most of the names on them. Some were people he only saw once, some were friends of Cordelia's.some were more familiar, such as the Scoobies, parents, family members. He recognized most of them and suddenly felt as if a cold fog had fallen upon the cafeteria. Wesley walked in behind him and followed Angel to the middle of the room.  
  
They stood, surrounded by the gravestones of people who had died in Cordelia's mind. In her heart. Whether they had brought it upon themselves, or whether she just found it easier to think of them as dead, the fact remained: Sunnydaly was Cordelia's graveyard. Angel stopped in front of a large, empty stone. No name was engraved on it, no date, nothing.  
  
"You don't think." Wesley hesitated as he stared at the blank stone.  
  
Angel felt the need to breathe all of a sudden. Wesley had not finished his sentence, but he knew exactly what was going through the ex-watcher's mind. This stone was Cordelia's. Not yet finished, but simply on the verge of being engraved.  
  
At the very moment, they heard the sound of footsteps behind them. Both men quickly turned around to see who had sneaked up on them and the person they found stunned them a bit. Angel frowned, unsure as to whom it actually was at first.  
  
There, in front of them, stood a dark haired, tall, slim little ten-year- old girl. Her hazel eyes bathed in a profound sadness that struck him down to his insides. She was wearing a beautiful and colorful summer dress that accentuated her otherwise gray figure. She seemed frozen in the grim setting that surrounded them. Angel recognized her.  
  
The girl from the woods.  
  
She was just as silent as before. Just as calm. Just as sad.  
  
"Who are you?" the small, child-like voice asked Angel, staring intently into his eyes.  
  
There was some sort of reluctance in the way she spoke and stared, as if she was shielding herself from whoever approached her.  
  
"My name is Angel." Angel answered in an even tone.  
  
The girl stared at him silently for what seemed like forever. The sadness in her eyes grew into curiousness and confusion.  
  
"Do I know you?" she then asked in her tiny little voice that made him wish he had a heart so it could beat at the same slow rhythm than hers was beating.  
  
Angel hesitated as he examined the young girl. There was something about her. Something utterly familiar and deep. Something striking, which he couldn't exactly put his finger on.  
  
"I don't know." he replied in all honesty as he took a step towards her, careful not to scare her away. "Who are you?" he asked her with uncharacteristic caution.  
  
The girl held her breath for a moment, and, without losing her calm posture, she opened her mouth to speak.  
  
"My name is Cordelia." She offered as her answer, her eyes lowering to the ground as if she was about to cry.  
  
Angel and Wesley looked at one another, stunned, but not entirely surprised. Angel turned back to face the little girl, who was now looking up into his eyes with the vulnerability of a child, yet the inner strength of a grown woman. Her glance never faltered. She held his stare intensely, as if she was waiting for him to say something, or do something.  
  
Angel took a few more steps towards her, amazed by her hazel eyes. He could slowly take in all the resemblance the little girl had with the Cordelia he now knew. He found himself standing right in front of her, and reminded himself of just how intimidating his tall form could be for a ten-year-old child. He slowly bent down on one knee so he could be on eye level with the little girl and stared at her with amazement. Never had he anticipated meeting the child version of Cordelia, especially in a setting like this. The silence was weighing on them all. Wesley was standing back, watching the scene unfold before his eyes, not sure if he was dreaming or not.  
  
Angel carefully reached and touched the little girl's shoulder with one hand.  
  
"I've seen you before." the little girl whispered. ".in here.in her thoughts." she emotionally told a very moved Angel. "Are you here to save us?" she then asked, leaning forward so that only he could hear her pleading whisper.  
  
Angel didn't have the words to answer such an emotion-filled plea. The small tears hidden in the young Cordy's eyes were enough to make him speechless. He simply stared at her, unable to speak.  
  
"Find her.please." Little Cordy demanded of him as he slowly removed his hand from her shoulders.  
  
"How?" Angel asked her, figuring that she must know her way around here better than he and Wesley did. "Where is she?" he asked, softly.  
  
"They have here."  
  
"Where?" Angel's voice was increasingly insisting, but the girl never flinched. "Please, tell me where she is." he added, suddenly feeling strange about referring to Cordelia as 'she' when the two girls were the same person.  
  
The girl's image began to fade, as if she was slowly disappearing. Angel tried to grab her shoulder again but his hand went right through her. Little Cordelia Chase was vanishing before their eyes and all she could do was stare at them with tears in her eyes.  
  
"Help me." Little Cordy whispered, ignoring Angel's constant questioning.  
  
Wesley took a few steps forward, noticing how Angel was losing control of the conversation.  
  
"We don't know how." Wesley answered, lowering his weapon as to not frighten her.  
  
The young girl kept on fading before their eyes as her time was being cut short.  
  
"The more scared you get, the more powerful she is." she wisely informed the two distraught men. She then looked into Angel's eyes again. "Follow your heart."  
  
Those were her last words as the image of Little Cordy disappeared completely, leaving Angel and Wesley staring into space.  
  
A few seconds after, a loud scream was heard throughout the morbid cafeteria and Angel shot up straight on his feet. The voice was unmistakable.  
  
It was Cordelia's.  
  
Angel and Wesley both ran out of the room in the direction of the painful scream.  
  
--  
  
Gunn, Fred and Lorne stopped their walk when they reached what looked like a crossroad. In front of them stood three locked doors in front of which hung three giant rings. They were hanging from the ceiling, obviously serving as doorbells of something of the kind. At least, this is what Fred and Gunn believed they were.  
  
"So, this kind of puts a halt to our little cruising." Lorne said as they all stared at the rings and the doors.  
  
"Barbie's read one too many J.R.R. Tolkien books." Gunn mumbled, leaning in to speak to Fred, who could not help a little smile.  
  
They seemed to stand still for a long while, pondering which ring to pull on. Fred could not help the very bad feeling she had about this. Finally, after a long pause, Lorne offered to do it. A fearful look came across Fred's face, for none of them knew what awaited them once one of the rings had been pulled down. Lorne looked at her and Gunn over his shoulder, unconsciously looking more frightened than he wished to let on.  
  
"Stay back with her." Lorne told Gunn.  
  
He then took a few steps forward. Gunn fought the urge to stop Lorne and offer to do it himself, but sensing his forthcoming thoughts, Fred grabbed his hand with hers, keeping him by her side. The genuine worry behind her touch convinced him to let Lorne do it.  
  
"So, which one caught your fancy Winifred?" Lorne asked in a shaky voice as he looked from one ring to the other.  
  
"Is neither a good enough answer for you?" she innocently asked, not really wanting to take on the pressure of choosing their fate.  
  
"I'm afraid not.unfortunately." Lorne mumbled back.  
  
After a little pondering and hesitating, Lorne finally set his choice on the ring to his right. He reached one of his green hands up and held his breath while he pulled down on the ring. Fred, standing behind him with Gunn, grabbed her companion's arm tightly, while Lorne closed his eyes, expecting the worse.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Silence.  
  
Lorne opened one eye suspiciously and waited. Still nothing. He then turned to face Gunn and Fred, who seemed just as confused as he was, and he shrugged, not exactly knowing what had happened - or not happened for that matter. Fred and Gunn barely had time to exchange a concerned look when the earth beneath them began moving. The walls trembled, rocks began to fall on them, and right in front of them, just before the doors, the floor began opening up.  
  
It happened like a domino game. The ground was falling down, as if the whole it left behind was running after them.  
  
"Let's get out of here!" Gunn shouted as he pulled on Fred's arm. "Lorne!" he then called out as the green Host followed their lead and began running with them.  
  
The second their feet lifted off the ground, the place where it had stood crumbled to pieces and vanished into an endless hole. Fred, Gunn and Lorne ran for their lives. Just like the dominos, falling one by one, following their great path, the crumbling floor was quickly catching up with them. Gunn pulled even harder on Fred's arm, making sure she was right behind him.  
  
Lorne shot a look over his shoulder once in a while, making sure he had a little advance on the hell mouth that seemed to run after them. However, he obviously wasn't as fast as Gunn and Fred. They seemed to be ahead of him of at least a couple of feet and fear suddenly overtook him. The floor was like a huge mouth, chasing them, destroying the ground beneath them only in anticipation of swallowing them whole.  
  
Gunn spotted a trap in the wall, a couple of feet in the air.  
  
"Fred, come on.up" he said as he helped her up into the passage.  
  
Once up there, on a somewhat second floor, she grabbed Gunn's hand and helped him up as well.  
  
"Lorne!!" Fred called out, seeing how he had fallen behind and how dangerously quick the crumbling floor was at catching up with him.  
  
"Jump!" Gunn shouted, tending his hand in front of him, promising to catch Lorne.  
  
But Lorne didn't have the time to jump. At the moment he was about to reach the place where Gunn and Fred had taken up shelter, the floor crumbled under his feet, making him slip. His feet fell through and a scream escaped his throat just as his body was swallowed whole by the hungry floor mouth.  
  
"Nooooo!!" was the only word that escaped Fred's throat as she and Gunn helplessly watched their friend vanish into the deep hole.  
  
A look of pure terror and sadness spread across their faces as the earthquake finally stopped just under their hiding place. They just stared, unbelievably frozen and pained. They stood there, powerlessly as everything around them stopped moving. They both fell on their knees, standing on the edge of the cliff that had now taken their friend's life.  
  
A small tear rolled down Fred's face.  
  
--  
  
She felt a throbbing in her head. Her muscles were weak and she slowly opened her eyes.  
  
Cordelia was once again lying down in a shallow pool of water, but this time, she was wearing a straight jacket and found herself unable to move at free will. She lifted her head up slightly enough so that she could take a quick look around. She struggled, twisted and turned, until she was in a seating position, wet again from the water.  
  
She was surrounded by glass walls. Transparent walls. If anything, it looked like a glass cage, about the size of her bedroom. She was locked up in a transparent cube.with no way out.  
  
  
  
--------------  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT CHAPTER: In what state will Angel find Cordelia, and who will be the next victim of this vicious game?  
  
--------------- 


	5. The Glass Cage

CHAPTER 5 - THE GLASS CAGE  
  
Reality.  
  
Emily and presumably Dennis watched over Cordelia's motionless form as she lay on her bed in the silent apartment. Both ghosts had not moved from Cordelia's bedside in the last five hours, and they were intent on remaining that way until their favorite vision girl was back.  
  
Emily sat in a chair and held Cordelia's hand into hers, tightly, as the whole apartment bathed in deep silence.  
  
In the seemingly empty chair beside her, she could feel Dennis fidgeting, waiting.worrying.  
  
Suddenly, something above Cordelia's bed, on the wall, caught their attention. The paint seemed to move a little, as if a hand was moving from inside the wall. And there, in bold letters written in blood, their worst fear came true. Five letters. Dripping with blood.  
  
LORNE  
  
Emily lowered her eyes and held on to Cordelia's hand with a tighter grip.  
  
-------------------  
  
Inside Cordy's head.  
  
Cordelia managed to bring herself in a kneeling position.  
  
The pain she felt in her arms and on her forehead brought tears to her eyes.  
  
She was still feeling a little groggy and suddenly remembered the sedative. It made her head feel like mushrooms. The glass prison in which she found herself was spinning around her in a malicious dance that threatened her sanity. Locked up. Tied up. Restrained. She felt like a mental patient, which sounded ironic to her considering she was inside her own head.  
  
Cordelia felt her heart pound against her chest as she leaned her forehead against the glass wall, closing her eyes in pain.  
  
One small tear rolled down her cheek as she tried to regain her strength. She kept her eyes closed and whispered a silent prayer to herself..  
  
"Help!!!" she then blurted out in a desperation-filled yell. "Somebody help me!!" she repeated as her voice trembled through her words.  
  
She took a deep and shaky breath and bowed her head, muttering something to herself.  
  
"Great Cordy. Way to go.alert all the demon army that resides in your head of where you are so they can just come and kill you faster." she berated herself in a low mutter.  
  
She then lifted her eyes, looking for a way out of this cage, and mostly, looking for a way to get that straight jacket off of her. There had to be a way.  
  
----------------------  
  
Wesley and Angel rushed through the corridors in a frantic attempt to trace the yell they had just heard. They were now positive the voice had been Cordy's.  
  
If Angel had had a heart, it would have broken his chest for her voice seemed filled with terror.  
  
He and Wesley stumbled from one hallway to another, peering through every window, every doorway, in an attempt to find Cordelia. She was nearby. She was close. Angel could feel it. He could smell her. Something inside of him was on the verge of snapping. The thought of Cordy in danger was a definite instigator of panic within him. As he and his ex-watcher friend ran everywhere, Angel came upon the room in which Emily was being held captive.  
  
He stopped and froze in the doorway for what seemed a mere instant. The shock and pain on his face did nothing to help the calm he was trying to keep. There, locked up in a cage, like an animal, was Emily, tied up to a bed like a mental patient in the worst Hitchcock scenario. Angel threw himself against the grillage and he didn't even try to control his begging voice.  
  
"Emily." he let out as Wesley barged in behind him. "Where is she? Emily.??" he asked, seeing how out of it the young girl was.  
  
A tear rolled down Emily's pained face as she stared up at the ceiling above her.  
  
"Find her." Emily urged him in a tone that sent shivers through Wesley entire body.  
  
He and Angel barely had time to try and respond to the young girl when they heard the sound of a door slamming.  
  
"Angel." Wesley hurried the vampire as the two men stormed out into the corridor and looked around frantically. That's when they saw it. At the end of the corridor was a large door from which a bright light came from. Unable to control his growing desire to get to Cordelia, Angel began running like a mad man towards the door. Wesley followed closely behind. The more they approached the secret room, the more Angel could smell her. Cordelia.  
  
Cordelia Chase.  
  
He had come to know her scent perfectly well by now.  
  
When Angel got to the door, he didn't even try to open it and went straight for the kick of death. If Cordy was behind that piece of metal, he would not let it stand in his way a second longer. He gathered all his strength and kicked the door down in one swift and anger-filled movement.  
  
Cordelia, who had been kneeling on the watery ground inside her glass prison, lifted her eyes up only to see the door crashing down onto the floor before her eyes. The fear that came across her face was quickly replaced by a profound sense of relief when she saw Angel and Wesley burst in, out of breath and clearly in a frantic.  
  
Angel's dark and pain-filled eyes suddenly locked with Cordelia's emotionally drained hazel ones.  
  
In that moment, she held her breath and stood still, staring back at him, standing on the other side of the glass wall.  
  
"Angel!" She then let escape her throat as she sprung to her feet, careful not to lose her balance, and weakly started for the wall.  
  
She saw his lips move as she did so, but could not hear one word he said.  
  
"Cordy!" Angel yelled back, but by the confused frown he saw on her face, he understood that she could not hear one single word he was saying.  
  
The soundproof wall between them the only obstacle that was left for them to finally be able to say that they had found Cordelia. It tugged at his un- beating heart to see the small tears well up in her eyes suddenly. That's when he took into full consideration the state in which she was. She could barely hold herself up on her feet. Her body was trembling, her hair was wet from the water and from the blood that had dripped from the wound on her forehead. More than a few strands fell on the side of her face and nearly covered her eyes. Strands she couldn't push away for lack of physical freedom. She was stuck in a straight jacket that seemed to hurt her entire upper body. Angel felt a growl escape his throat as his stare grew into a painful realization of what they had done to her.  
  
She was, indeed, a prisoner. One he was intent on delivering.  
  
"Cordy, we're going to get you out of there!" he shouted, mouthing the words so that she could understand him.  
  
"What?" Cordy found herself asking, on her own side of the glass wall.  
  
"Wesley, how did they get her in there?" Angel asked as he momentarily turned to his friend.  
  
"I don't know, I don't see a door anywhere." Wesley informed the impatient vampire as they both looked around the room frenetically.  
  
Angel's gaze fell back upon Cordelia, who seemed to be desperately trying to maintain her calm. He could see she was breathing quickly, also searching for a way out.  
  
Not finding any door or any way to climb or jump the wall, Angel threw his fist onto the glass wall, attempting to break it with his strength. He withdrew his hand as quickly as he had thrown it, realizing that the wall was much more solid than he had anticipated.  
  
"Angel." Cordelia said out loud as she almost leaned against the wall, right in front of Angel.  
  
Even with his vampire hearing, he couldn't hear a word she was speaking. All he could do was read her shivering lips as she spoke his name once again.  
  
"I'm going to get you out." he said, mouthing the words so she could comprehend.  
  
"How?" he saw her reply from the other side.  
  
"How did you get in?" he asked but Cordelia obviously did not understand what he was saying, so he repeated it a second time. "How did you get in?"  
  
"I don't know." she said, shaking her head in an exhausted manner, which proved Angel's worst fear.  
  
They had drugged her.  
  
Angel leaned against the glass, clenched teeth and piercing eyes and began hitting the wall with all his strength. Wesley came from behind him and joined him in trying to break down the wall. She saw them kick and punch and hit the wall repetitively until Wesley was out of breath. He even tried his dagger but in vain.  
  
Cordelia backed away from the glass, lifted her leg up and tried a side kick of her own. Several minutes passed, and the three of them were getting more and more desperate. Angel painfully threw himself against the wall as Cordelia watched in tears on the other side. Angel saw the look in her eyes and if he had been breathing, it would have taken his breath away. She wasn't giving up, he kept trying to remind himself. She couldn't be giving up.  
  
Yet, in her eyes, he saw a pain he'd never seen before. A sadness. She was fighting to get rid of the straight jacket, and she was kicking the wall with her right foot, but through it all, there was a fear in her eyes.  
  
He couldn't. He wouldn't. He would not let her think for a second that he would not be able to get her out.  
  
A painful groan escaped his throat as he kept on savagely trying to break the wall. It barely shook under his and Wesley's attempt.  
  
"Angel."Cordelia's tear-filled voice could not break through the soundproof glass.  
  
Angel was not hearing her as he slammed his hands on the glass, not even able to make it crack a little.  
  
As she watched, catching her breath, her eyes widened with fear. Right above Angel and Wesley's shoulder, a giant, three-headed demon had just walked into the room. She began screaming for the guys to turn around but her voice never reached him.  
  
"Angel! Wesley!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as her face twisted in fear. "Angel behind you!!!" her voice was nearly breaking as the words left her mouth.  
  
Angel and Wesley were not paying attention as she tried to warn them of the attacker walking in their direction. Then, Angel lifted his eyes up and met Cordelia's frightening expression. He saw her shout and get agitated.  
  
"Angel!"  
  
Angel turned around just in time to see the evil multi-headed demon throw itself at him and Wesley. Angel didn't have time to duck and was slammed against the wall, under Cordelia's distressed eyes. She threw herself down on her knees, in front of the spot where Angel had fallen to the ground.  
  
"Oh my God Angel." her voice was shaking and her eyes welled up with tiny tears as her worst fears began to take control of her mind.  
  
She saw Wesley launch at the demon with fierce determination. Dagger in hand, he proceeded to stab the creature several time only before being thrown to the ground violently. Angel jumped to his feet once again, as did Wesley and a long and dramatic battle ensued. Feeling more helpless than ever, Cordelia could only watch from her side of the prison, silently praying to herself. She saw Angel's fist vehemently landing across the demon's face, and then Wesley cold-bloodedly s8ticking his dagger into the demon's stomach. But nothing seemed to appease the beast. Cordelia found herself frozen as the two men battled for their lives - and hers.  
  
In the midst of the fight, Wesley found himself trapped between the glass wall and the demon. Angel made an angry attempt at freeing his friend but the demon, with one hand movement, threw Angel back onto the floor. Then, he grabbed Wesley by the neck and throws the ex-watcher onto a wall covered with spikes.  
  
"Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!"  
  
Angel and Cordelia's voices rang into the atmosphere as they saw Wesley's back hit the sharp spikes with a violence unknown to them before. The deadly spikes pierced through Wesley's body like knives through fresh meat. Time suddenly stopped as horror dawned upon them.  
  
Angel felt something inside of him give away as he rolled over quickly and reached one of the other walls. He grabbed a long piece of metal that looked like a sword from the wall and threw himself at the demon with rare strength and anger. The pole Angel was holding went through the beast's body in one vengeful movement and the demon quickly fell to the floor writhing in pain.  
  
"Wesley!!" Cordelia yelled, helpless and unheard as she frantically stared at the horrible scene in front of her.  
  
A look of terror was now imprinted on her pale face.  
  
As the demon died on the floor, Angel jumped over its body and rushed towards Wesley, who was still hanging from the spikes on the wall. Tears welled up in Angel's eyes as he urgently tried to unhook Wesley's bleeding body.  
  
"Come on Wesley." his voice broke as he gave up on holding back his tears.  
  
Wesley opened his mouth to speak, while Angel tried to lift his body enough so the spikes would unhook themselves, but no word came out of his mouth. Angel looked up and saw the blood dripping down his lips and onto the side of his neck.  
  
"Wesley..no..No!" Angel angrily yelled as he managed to bring Wesley down.  
  
"An.Ang." Wesley tried to speak but it was too late.  
  
Cordelia watched, shocked and heartbroken as she saw the pool of blood in which her friend lied. Her face twisted in pain as she squatted down a little, feeling as if her legs were going to give out any seconds now. She closed her eyes in pain, silent tears rolling down her face.  
  
Angel grabbed Wesley's cold hand, begging him not to give up now. Begging him to live.  
  
"Get her out." Wesley whispered with his last breath, before his head fell to the side and his eyes closed.  
  
Nothing could have ever prepared them for something like this. Nothing in the world could have prepared them to watch something as horrific as what they had just seen. Cordelia opened her eyes and lifted herself up at the same moment that Angel lifted his glance and looked at her. Their tear- filled eyes met in an instant and a silent conversation passed between the two. Cordelia's heart was aching.aching with guilt and with pain. She had seen a lot in her twenty odd years but never had she seen this. Looking into her eyes, Angel felt each and every one of her emotions.  
  
He let go of Wesley's hand as the body of the ex-watcher disappeared before their eyes and Angel turned to face Cordelia once again.  
  
Their eyes locked in a stare they both knew they would never forget.  
  
--  
  
The Ghost of Dennis' mother watched the whole scene through a glowing magic bubble that hung above a large table.  
  
As she stood alone in the room, a demonic laugh escaped her throat.  
  
"Isn't the mind a beautiful thing..and it's only the beginning. " She wistfully smiled, looking into the bubble with pure delight and enjoyment.  
  
--  
  
Catch your breath  
  
Hit the wall  
  
Scream out loud  
  
As you start to crawl  
  
With a rage he didn't know he still had in him, Angel grabbed the pole that he had dropped on the floor and repeatedly hit the glass wall with it. Such a rage would have made anyone frightened, but not Cordelia. She did not flinch at his act, but only stared, until she lowered her eyes.  
  
A tear rolled down her exhausted face and Angel stopped hitting the wall, bowing his head down and leaning against the glass in defeat.  
  
Back in your cage  
  
The only place  
  
Where they will  
  
Leave you alone  
  
  
  
Cordelia, with her eyes still closed, leaned her forehead against the glass and let herself crawl into a corner, her back slowly sliding down the wall until she was sitting down in the water, curled up and teary.  
  
'Cause the weak will seek the weaker  
  
Until they've broken them  
  
Could you get it back again  
  
Would it be the same  
  
The realization of what had just happened in the last five minutes suddenly took its toll and dawned upon them.  
  
With no strength in her left to fight, she just sat there, leaning her head against the glass that stood between her and her freedom. Her and Angel.  
  
Fulfillment to their lack of strength  
  
At your expense  
  
Left you with no defense  
  
They tore it down  
  
And I have felt the same  
  
As you  
  
I've felt the same  
  
As you  
  
I've felt the same  
  
Angel looked down at Cordelia with a deep sadness in his eyes and suddenly felt helpless for the first time in his life.  
  
He slowly walked to the corner of the room, on his own side of the glass and sat down beside her, his eyes never leaving her.  
  
Locked inside  
  
The only place  
  
Where you feel sheltered  
  
Where you feel safe  
  
You lost yourself  
  
In your search to find  
  
Something else  
  
To hide behind  
  
A tear fell from Emily's eyes as she lay, strapped to her bed inside her cage. With her eyes riveted at the ceiling still, she just stayed there. A prisoner. Like all of them.  
  
The fearful always preyed upon your confidence  
  
Didn't they see the consequence  
  
When they pushed you around  
  
Emily and Dennis, the two vigilant ghosts looked up with fear as they saw something move on the wall once more.  
  
The arrogant built kingdoms made of the different ones  
  
Breaking them until they've become  
  
Just another crown  
  
Emily stared with dreadful eyes as she saw Wesley's name be written in blood on the wall above Cordy's head by an invisible force.  
  
She closed her eyes and sighed.  
  
And I have felt the same  
  
As you  
  
I've felt the same  
  
As you  
  
I've felt the same  
  
A young 10-year-old Emily stood all by herself in a large green field, filled with flowers, overlooking the beautiful mountains. She stood in the shadow of a willow tree, staring out at the beautiful scenery before her. It was a magical setting. Beauty at it's purest.  
  
But she wasn't smiling.  
  
No.  
  
Her eyes were dark. Lonely.  
  
Lost.  
  
And she just stood there.  
  
Refuse to feel anything at all  
  
Refuse to slip, refuse to fall  
  
You can't be weak, you can't stand still  
  
Watch your back 'cause no one will  
  
Fred wrapped her arms around a shaken Gunn as the two of them knelt on the ground, holding one another. Fearful eyes, mourning stares, sad embrace.  
  
They did not move, simply holding on to one another as they stood a few feet above the abyss in which Lorne had disappeared. Desperately clinging to one another, neither was willing, or strong enough to let go.  
  
You don't know why they had to go this far  
  
Traded your worth for these scars  
  
For your only company  
  
All Angel wanted was to wrap his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be alright. All he wanted was to hold her. But instead, all he could do was sit beside her, with a wall between them, as he helplessly watched the pain in her eyes.  
  
Don't believe the lies that they have told to you  
  
Not one word was true  
  
  
  
Cordelia lifted her eyes and looked into Angel's, taking a deep breath.  
  
You're alright  
  
You're alright  
  
You're alright.  
  
  
  
Angel reached a hand up and placed it against the glass, his emotions obviously showing in the way he looked at her from his side of the world. Cordy, unable to untangle herself from the straight jacket, simply rested her head against the glass where his hand stood.  
  
  
  
And I have felt the same  
  
As you  
  
I've felt the same  
  
As you  
  
I've felt the same  
  
They would find a way.  
  
They had to.  
  
As they stood like that for an instant, emotionally drained, bathing in profound quietness, they struggled to keep the hope floating.  
  
After a few seconds, a loud noise startled them both as their heads snapped up. just as they were beginning to think nothing worse could happen, a large valve open up from the ceiling, pouring gallons of water inside the cube in which Cordelia was trapped.  
  
Now she was trapped, with no way out.and with very little time as the room began to fill with water.  
  
  
  
----------------  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT CHAPTER: With the water rising at a frightening speed, will Angel be able to free Cordelia in time? Gunn and fred stumble upon one of Cordelia's deepest secrets...what will it be? 


	6. The Rising Tide

------------------  
  
CHAPTER 6 - The Rising Tide  
  
Cordelia jumped to her feet as the water poured on her head with surprising force. Had she ever wondered what it would feel like if the sky fell on her head, now she probably had a pretty good idea.  
  
From his side of the glass, Angel rose to his feet with a sudden panic. Leaning against the wall, yelling something at Cordy through the glass wall, he found himself completely helpless. All she could see was his lips moving and his fists pounding on the glass forcefully. But she couldn't hear him, nor could she move freely enough to join him in the pounding.  
  
"Angel.!!!"  
  
Her voice came desperate and fearful. Only she could hear it but still, she had to scream. She had to let it out. She squatted down when another valve opened and dropped gallons of water straight on her head. She coughed out some of the water, trying to place herself in a corner of the glass cube in which she was trapped.  
  
"Cordy!" Angel yelled at the moment the second valve opened.  
  
He was just about to throw himself on the glass wall once again when it all suddenly stopped.  
  
Cordy opened her eyes, thinking maybe she'd just gone deaf and wasn't hearing all the trauma anymore. But no. She opened her eyes and looked up, all wet from the previous waterfall, and realized that the water had stopped pouring down. Confusion and panic could not begin to cover what she was feeling right at this instant. Her chest rose and fell under her heavy breathing, and then she quickly turned to face a distraught Angel.  
  
Both hands glued to the glass, pleadingly, he stared at her with frightened eyes.  
  
---------------------  
  
The silence that had been following them in the last half hour was brutally unbearable. They would speak here and there, but mostly, they would just stare at one another in silence. There were no words.  
  
"Do you think he found her?" Fred asked quietly as she and Gunn strolled through a long and dark cave.  
  
"I hope so.I hope so." Gunn only replied, unable to think of something more hopeful at this point.  
  
Gunn's feet splashed into the water on the floor and he could not help but wonder what all this water was about.  
  
"Does Cordy have some sort of water issues that we're not aware of?" Fred asks, looking down at the floor as they walk.  
  
"I'm beginning to think we don't have a clue who Barbie is anymore." Gunn sighed in response.  
  
"Now don't say that." Fred mumbled. "This isn't her.remember.only part of it is her." She reminded a very concentrated Gunn.  
  
The two of them walked for a few more minutes before either of them spoke again.  
  
"Are you okay?" Gunn asked her, seeing how silent she had become.  
  
"Yeah.it's just." she stopped and paused for a moment.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What happened to Lorne.I mean.is he.?" she couldn't even bare to say the words out loud at this point.  
  
"I don't know." Gunn replied, his tone filled with worry and confusion.  
  
On this note, Gunn and Fred reached a light at the end of the tunnel. They both walked through a large door and found themselves in a huge, round room. After spending hours in complete darkness, the bright lights seemed to blindside them for a few seconds. Gunn was the first one to take a few steps into the room, and Fred followed closely behind. They stared, stunned and amazed by what they found in that room.  
  
On the round wall around them were dozens and dozens of silver handprints. So perfectly carved into the white wall. So perfectly sized.  
  
In the middle of the room, some sort of round stage grabbed their attention.  
  
"Gunn." Fred hesitantly spoke as she walked closer to him.  
  
At the moment she spoke the words, a crashing noise resounded in the entire room. Both, Gunn and Fred, jumped and turned to face the entrance, where a large cement door had just blocked their only way out.  
  
"This is not good, is it?" Fred whispered in a shaky voice while grabbing Gunn's shirt from behind.  
  
------------------------  
  
Cordy and Angel both stood still for a few seconds, grasping the fact that the water had stopped pouring from the ceiling. Cordy managed to catch her breath, but found herself unable to tear her eyes away from the now-closed valves. It's as if she expected them to open up again.any time.  
  
Angel's pounding on the glass took her away from her thoughts and she quickly made her way back to the glass wall. The water was now rising up to her knees and she had trouble walking, but she never left Angel out of her sight. Once she reached him, she nearly stopped breathing. The look in his eyes was breaking her heart.  
  
And the feeling seemed to go the other way around as well.  
  
"Are you okay?" She saw him ask from the other side.  
  
Cordy simply nodded, constantly glancing up at the ceiling while responding.  
  
"Cordy, listen to me." Angel said and then felt really stupid for saying that since she could not hear a word. "Can you loosen your straight jacket?" he said, making sure to mouth each and every word properly so she could read his lips.  
  
He could see her struggle with the jacket, trying to free her arms, but after a long and draining effort, he realized that she couldn't. The look of desperation in his eyes was shattering her. All she could do was shake herself in frustration and stare at him with teary eyes.  
  
"I'm going to get you out of there." He said, trying to reassure her.  
  
"Angel." Cordy began to tell him something but was stopped when she heard the sound of the valve opening up again.  
  
She barely had time to turn around when the water began pouring from everywhere this time. So much for some time to figure out a way out. Gathering all of their strength and energy, they both began to frantically pound on the glass. Cordelia threw herself on it several time, hitting the wall with her forearms and shoulders to the point where she hurt herself, while Angel grabbed the pole that was lying on the ground and began swinging it at the glass.  
  
Nothing seemed to work.  
  
"Cordy!!!" Angel yelled when he saw her break into tears. "She can't give up now..she can't give up." he mumbled to himself as he was desperately trying to make the glass crack.  
  
-------------------------  
  
"Do you really think this is going to work?" Gunn asked a very pensive Fred.  
  
"Do we have any other option??" she raised her eyebrows at him and he new she was getting a bit impatient. "I'm guessing that one of these handprints can open up that door again. It's our only way out." she trailed off, staring at the many handprints that surrounded them.  
  
"What if we don't pick the right one, huh? We all saw what happened the last time." Gunn said, taking a deep breath.  
  
He and Fred stared at one another for a few seconds. They had two options: Wait, or try something. Neither seemed to foreshadow an easy way out at the moment.  
  
Fred took a few steps closer to the wall and noticed some inscriptions carved underneath each handprint.  
  
"Gunn, look at this." she pointed at the writing on the wall.  
  
"What is it?" he asked her with a frown.  
  
Then, that's when it hit Fred like a ton of brick.  
  
"Gunn, this is it." she realized out loud. "This is what Emily was talking about.the things we may not want to see." she trailed off under Gunn's questioning stare. "We're inside Cordelia's memories." she then concluded, reading a few of the words carved in the wall.  
  
After a little while of pondering, Gunn agreed to try one of the handprints.  
  
"Okay." he took a deep breath, fidgeting a little, and then reached to place his hand in one of the carved hands on the wall. "Here we go." he muttered to himself in a shaky breath as he placed his hand into the perfect handprint.  
  
His hand fit perfectly into the form, and at the second his palm touched the cold wall, a bright flash of blue light illuminated the room. Gunn's hand seemed to be sucked into the wall for an instant until he realized that it had only been covered by some sort of sticky green glue that held his hand into the handprint. Fred was blinded by the blue light for a moment and then gasped, seeing what was happening in the center of the room.  
  
The light had emanated from the ceiling, forming a strange blue-ish spotlight on the small round stage they had been looking at earlier. And just as she and Gunn reluctantly looked at it, human forms began to appear. Images. Very familiar images. Progressively, Gunn and Fred saw an image of Cordelia and Wesley take form on the blue stage and they stared in shock at what they saw.  
  
"Oh. My. God." Fred exclaimed, as she watched the scene play out in front of their eyes.  
  
  
  
  
  
"How do we stop that!?!" Gunn exclaimed, unable to take his hand out of the handprint now. "Please make this stop!" he said in a strangely disgusted way.  
  
"Wait." Fred said, sticking her own hand into another handprint.  
  
At the same instant, Gunn's hand was released and he pulled it to his chest.  
  
"Cordy kissed English??!!" Gunn asked in near disdain.  
  
"huh." Fred seemed at a loss for words, clearly disturbed by the sight of that kiss.  
  
"Okay, that had to be the most horrible kiss in human history.what was with that??!" Gunn exclaimed, shaking his head.  
  
Both he and Fred looked at one another, obviously perturbed by the whole thing.  
  
"No offense to Wesley or Cordy.but that was the most disturbing thing I've seen." Fred mumbled just before another flash of light appeared and her hand became engulfed in the wall, as Gunn's had been earlier.  
  
They both turned to face the stage, this time with a reluctance strongly justified.  
  
Fred's eyes grew wide and her mouth hung open for a few seconds as she stared, speechless.  
  
"I stand corrected." she whispered to herself with raised eyebrows as she stared at the new image of Cordelia that graced them.  
  
  
  
  
  
"I won't even ask..." Gunn said as he stared, as confused and stunned as Fred.  
  
  
  
--  
  
Never in her life had she imaged that she would die this way. This was no way to die. Drowning.  
  
The water was up to her neck and she was struggling to keep herself afloat. On the other side, a frantic Angel had lost his control. Putting on his game face, he savagely began a battle against the glass wall that stood between him and Cordelia.  
  
There was very little time left. He could feel it.  
  
Whatever he tried, nothing worked.  
  
Angel saw Cordelia scream from the inside. He saw her yell something at him but he couldn't make out what it was. Sweat was now rolling down his face as he used every ounce of his vampire strength to break down that wall. He cursed the wall. He cursed Dennis' mother. But mostly, he was cursing himself. The thought of not being able to rescue Cordelia simply felt like he was being staked.  
  
Staked through the heart.  
  
A loud scream of pain escaped Angel's throat and tears rolled down his face as h e saw Cordy's head sink under water. He could see her body still trying to fight off her captive jacket, even as she was drowning. A strong and violent wind began to blow and Angel was shoved away from the glass wall. His back hit the floor and he found himself unable to move back towards the glass. It's like a force was pulling him backwards. Away.  
  
Away from Cordelia.  
  
He yelled at the top of his lungs, the empty veins in his neck remarkably filled with terror and anger, as he never left Cordy out of his sight. She was beginning to run out of oxygen and it was killing him.  
  
The fear on his face was now something he could not hide. He could not mask his horror and dread.  
  
And that's when he heard it.  
  
Like a voice from heaven, it spoke to him. He remembered her words.  
  
"The more scared you get, the more powerful she is."  
  
The voice of a ten-year-old Cordelia Chase rang into the room, making its way through the violent wind and the running water. Angel closed his eyes as he listened to the voice, over and over again. He took deep breaths, even though he didn't need them.  
  
"Beat your fear..face your fear."  
  
The voice then murmured to his ear.  
  
--  
  
"Okay I'm feeling a really unhealthy cycle here." Gunn said as Fred's hand got stuck in the handprint.  
  
Gunn rushed towards her and began to pull on her arm with every ounce of strength in his being.  
  
Fred's hand would still not come out.  
  
Right then, everything became dark. Gunn and Fred froze as they stood there in silence.  
  
"Gunn?" Fred ventured, hesitantly.  
  
"Yeah?" he responded, still holding her arm.  
  
"Just checking." she whispered.  
  
Then, the lights came on again, but only those above the small stage. Gunn and Fred found themselves unable to tear their eyes away from the scene that was displayed before them.  
  
A tall man stood in front of a frail, dark haired woman at the base of a staircase. They were both just staring at one another in silence. At the top of the long staircase, a little girl, no more than 7 years old, eavesdropped on the conversation her parents apparently h ad been having.  
  
Fred and Gunn watched, captivated by what they saw.  
  
"This is none of your business." the man spoke, brushing off his wife.  
  
"It is my business when it comes to our daughter and our marriage. What you do is my business.." The wife argued.  
  
"Shut up." The man shot back through his teeth as he grabbed the woman's hand.  
  
"Let go of me."  
  
The man slapped her face hard and the woman brought her hands to her mouth as to hold back to sound of pain from escaping her throat.  
  
At the top of the stairs, the little dark-haired girl gasped, startled, and the man suddenly looked up to find her there. There was a moment when they both stood still. And then, the father spoke in a commanding tone.  
  
"Cordelia, go to your room!" he ordered, as the little girl's face disappeared from the corridor and she retreated to some place unknown.  
  
  
  
The blue light began to fade slowly and Fred's hand was suddenly let go from its handprint. Her arm helplessly fell beside her body while she and Gunn still stared at the stage. With the fading of the lights, the images gradually disappeared, only to leave an empty stage in front of them.  
  
Gunn grabbed Fred's hand as they both stood there speechless. Soon enough, all the lights were turned on again and the large cement door was lifted. Just like that. Magically. It's as if they had both been trapped there for a purpose, and that purpose now filled, they were being let go.  
  
Gunn quickly led Fred out of the door and the both stopped once back in the cave-like corridor. He turned to face her and the expression on their faces was one of complete astonishment.  
  
"That was." Gunn managed to let out, swallowing with difficulty.  
  
"We don't know if that was who we think it was." Fred hesitantly replied.  
  
"How many Cordelia do you know?" Gunn raised an eyebrow. "If it was."  
  
"If it was, then I'm beginning to understand what Emily meant by some things in here we may not be prepared to see." she let out, finishing his sentence.  
  
They both paused for a moment and Gunn looked into her eyes with a reluctant expression on his face.  
  
"You think that really happened?" he decided to ask, even though he didn't really want to know the answer.  
  
Fred simply looked at him and they both lowered their eyes. She didn't need to answer. She couldn't.  
  
Only Cordy could.  
  
They both stood there in silence, back against the wall, processing everything they had just seen.  
  
--  
  
All his life, he'd never been afraid of anything. And as he stood there, he couldn't hide them anymore. He was afraid..of losing her.  
  
beat your fear.face your fear."  
  
"She will play upon your greatest inner feelings." Emily had warned him before they got inside Cordy's head.  
  
The more scared you got, the more powerful she is."  
  
He swallowed back his fear and with a sudden regain of confidence and strength, he threw himself forward. Trying to find that fearless streak inside of him, he gave it his all to save Cordelia. He managed to get through the wind and when his hands found the glass, they went right through, melting in the glass slowly. Angel felt the glacial feel of the glass melting as his hands went right through it.  
  
Once he was deep to his elbow, he closed his eyes, concentrated, and the entire glass wall exploded into millions of tiny pieces.  
  
Angel fell to his knees as the water spread like a flood across the room. He opened his eyes just in time to see Cordelia's body brutally hit the marble floor.  
  
"Cordy!" Angel let out as he pulled himself up and rushed through flood until he reached her.  
  
The water level lowered until there was practically nothing left and Angel threw himself down on the floor beside Cordelia. He grabbed her weak body just as she coughed out mouthfuls of water.  
  
"Breathe.Cordy." he encouraged her as he lifted her up carefully. "That's it.just breathe." he lovingly whispered in her ear.  
  
"An-Angel." she tried to speak but couldn't' get the words out.  
  
Angel quickly untied her and proceeded to take the straight jacket off of her.  
  
"Here, take this off." he said as he helped her out of it and threw the wet piece of clothing on the ground.  
  
  
  
She finished spitting the disgusting water she had accidentally swallowed and tried to catch her breath. Angel quickly gathered her into his arms, wrapping himself around her shivering body, whispering into her ear.  
  
"It's okay.shhh..it's okay."  
  
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, desperately, and tried to hold back her tears, in vain. Her grip was weak but very distressed. She couldn't hold herself up so she let him hold her up into a seating position. She was breathing heavily against his wet sweater when she finally spoke.  
  
"I knew you would come." she whispered against his chest.  
  
Angel buried his face in her wet hair for a moment, unable to answer anything.  
  
Cordy took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh - and I might as well tell you now." she said, breathlessly. ".just for future reference.I plan on being claustrophobic once we get out of here." she said in between in-takes of air.  
  
Angel closed his eyes and held her close. That was typical Cordy and he had never been so thankful for that.  
  
"That's good to know." He whispered against her shoulder as he cradled her into his arms.  
  
On Cordelia's face, it was impossible to see where the water ended and the tears began, but one thing seemed to invade each and every breath she took: relief. The two of them stayed there for a long time, holding one another for dear life.  
  
  
  
Never wanting to let go.  
  
  
  
-----------  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW OF NEXT CHAPTER: Can Cordelia and Angel escape? The answer will be set in stone... 


	7. The Grey Stone

Chapter 7 - The Gray Stone  
  
With her arms wrapped tightly around Angel's shoulders, Cordelia worked hard on catching her breath, and marvelled in the comfort of his embrace and in the knowledge that she was still alive. She buried her face in his sweater as he stroked her hair gently, unable and unwilling to let her go.  
  
Kneeling on the floor, Angel felt her heavy breathing against his cold skin and it sent a shiver down his spine. He closed his eyes and swallowed back the fear that had inhabited him until that moment. Relief covered his face as he finally gathered enough strength to pull away slightly from her.  
  
His eyes bore into hers and he frantically looked her up and down, wanting to make sure that she was alright. He reached out to cup her face with both of his hands and emotionally stared into her eyes.  
  
« Are you okay? » He let out, gently caressing the side of her face.  
  
His worries shone through each of his word, and Cordelia had to think a little before she could form an answer.  
  
« I.yes.I'm okay. » She whispered, still obviously on shock. « I'm fine. » she repeated and reached up to lovingly grab his wrists with her fingers.  
  
Angel felt the human warmth of her touch against his wrists and he swallowed difficultly. The intensity in their eyes was palpable. Neither could take their eyes away from one another and Angel sensed her rapidly beating heart pounding in her chest, nearly distracting him from her face.  
  
« You're hurt. » Angel whispered, noticing the cut on her forehead.  
  
Off the concerned look in his eyes, Cordy reached to touch her own forehead and flinched when her fingers brushed against the cut she had almost forgotten she had in the first place. She closed her eyes, caught her breath and looked back up to him.  
  
« I'm not hurt.I'm. » She began. « I'm not hurt. » she then paused momentarily, looking at his questioning face. « Well, not much. » she admitted, trying to sound as genuine and honest as possible. « I just.I- I.. » she stumbled, obviously still reeling from the whole experience.  
  
Angel noticed her shivering and the look of complete loss in her eyes, so he pulled her back to him, enveloping her in his strong arms. He brushed the wet hair away from her face as he held her close to him, berating himself for letting her go even for one second.  
  
The hug was as much for him as it was for her, and Cordy realized it quickly when she sensed him bury his face in her hair. The fear was mutual. The concern and sense of danger had invaded them both, and at that specific moment in time, they both needed something to hold onto. Someone.  
  
Each other.  
  
This time around, it was Cordelia who pulled away from the hug slightly enough so that she could look into his relieved face. As she did so, she felt the side of her cheek brush against his in a slow, emotional brush. She pressed her lips lightly against his giving him a few repetitive light kisses that mirrored her newfound relief and affection for the vampire. Slowly, the kiss deepened into one long, breathless kiss.  
  
One emotion-filled kiss.  
  
After a little while, Cordy gently lifted her lips from his - not because she wanted to but more out of necessity. She caught her breath and looked into his caring eyes, then frowned as if she'd suddenly realized something utterly relevant to the situation.  
  
« What are you doing here? » she questioned with wide hazel eyes.  
  
She didn't necessarily wait for him to answer, since the look in his eyes seemed to convey everything he was feeling at the moment.  
  
« Why - How did you get here? Are you okay? Where is 'here'? And please tell me we're not actually inside my head because that would be very disturbing. » she asked in one quick breath before inhaling deeply. « Are you alright?? » she then added, gently touching the side of his chin.  
  
Angel took a few seconds to register all of her questions, struggling to remember what the first of them all had been.  
  
« Huh.To save you. Emily. And yes, this is very disturbing. » he then spoke, taking one of her hands into his in a very reassuring way.  
  
« huh? » Cordy was now the one who had lost track of his train of thought.  
  
« Emily.She's the one who helped us get to you. » Angel then proceeded to explain to her, the two of them never parting completely. « Do you remember anything that happened? You had a vision. » he then added.  
  
Cordelia found herself nodding as she remembered the whole thing vividly.  
  
« I remember. » she breathed out. « And the next thing I know, I was waking up in here and. »  
  
Cordy stopped herself as she saw the way he looked back at her.  
  
« I didn't wake up, did I? » She said with a slight nod, and Angel silently confirmed her new realization.  
  
He then proceeded in explaining to her what had happened, and where they were. It's not like she hadn't figured it out already, but he she needed the confirmation to make it real.  
  
« So, you mean my head has been invaded by the likes of you and me because of some dead woman who got a bit too pissed?!? » Cordy exclaimed after Angel's quick explanation.  
  
« no » Angel replied, lowering his eyes.  
  
« What? What do you mean 'no'? You just said. » she spoke with the slightest confusion.  
  
« It's not just you and me. » He told her as a deep and intense silence followed his words.  
  
Cordelia's eyes travelled to the wall where Wesley had been killed and she felt her heart sink inside of her.  
  
« They're all in here, aren't they? » she then whispered, staring at the ground, as it suddenly dawned upon her just how many lives rested in her hands now - or in her head to be more literal.  
  
Angel's silence once again contributed to her own answer. He reached out to take her hands into his when he saw the grave expression that invaded every line on her face. She pondered the situation for a little while before staring at the floor, tears welling up in her otherwise invincible eyes.  
  
« I don't know the way out. » she whispered in true confession. « I don't know how, Angel. I don't. » she regretfully admitted.  
  
Angel took her fearful face into his hands and whispered her name with reassurance. Just as he was about to say something else, he abruptly stopped and his head snapped up.  
  
« What? » Cordy raised an eyebrow at the sudden and strange expression on his face.  
  
« Shh. » Angel motioned to her, holding her shoulders.  
  
Angel seemed to listen, and as if struck by lightening, he abruptly pulled Cordy to her feet.  
  
« Out, out, out! » He hurried her as he pushed her towards the door.  
  
They both ran out of the door just in time to avoid the the large rhino- like demons that came bursting through an exploding wall.  
  
Angel grabbed Cordy by the hand and led her into the corridor, making sure she was staying close to him. Then, without any warning, Cordy stopped in her tracks and pulled on Angel's arm with protest.  
  
« No, wait! » She exclaimed, frantically. « We have to go back! »  
  
Angel turned to face her quickly, and his demeanor prompted Cordy to explain further more.  
  
« Emily. » Her words were self-explanatory. « We can't just leave her there. »  
  
« Cordy, we don't have time. » Angel reminded her as the demons appeared around the corner at the other end of the long tunnel.  
  
« Angel, I'm not leaving her again! » Cordelia argued with determination. « Not again.I can't. » she said in a lower voice that went straight to Angel's core.  
  
He eyed the demons for a second and then grabbed Cordy's hand as they headed into another direction.  
  
« Come on. » he urged her as they went back by the means of another tunnel.  
  
They ran for what seemed like forever until they stopped hearing the beasts behind them. At that point, Angel had figured out that the demons in Cordelia's head were harder to defeat than those of reality. Probably because of the power of the mind, and the power of their fears. Ironic, for a vampire who had so often claimed to fear very little.  
  
Empowered by panic and determination, Angel and Cordelia finally managed to make their way back to Emily's room. They both burst through the door, closing it behind them and making sure that no one had followed them.  
  
When Cordy saw Emily through the grillage, her heart skipped an important beat.  
  
« Emily! » she called out and the girl turned her head around to face her.  
  
Angel approached the cage wall and saw the straps around emily's wrists and the bruises on her arms. She had clearly been roughed up and the simple thought of such atrocities enraged him.  
  
« Get back. » he warned Cordelia as she took a few steps backwards.  
  
Angel savagely threw his foot on the cage and managed to break it open after a few trials. He and Cordelia pulled the side of the cage apart and got in through the ripped cage. Cordy rushed to her cousin's side and saw the tears welling up in Emily's eyes.  
  
« Cordy. » the young girl whispered.  
  
When Cordelia's hand felt Emily's shoulder, a gasp nearly escaped her throat. She could touch her. Emily's wasn't invisible, or untouchable.  
  
She was human.  
  
As human as any of them.  
  
« Oh my God. » she whispered to herself while Angel joined her and they both tugged at the straps holding Emily down.  
  
They seemed to struggled with the black things for a moment, causing Angel to curse under his breath.  
  
« Come on. » Cordy lashed out at herself when she fumbled with the straps as well.  
  
After a few seconds, they managed to free Emily, but the physical state in which the young teenager found herself was just as worse. Emily could barely sit on her own, much less stand on her own two feet. Angel helped her up in a seating position while Cordelia proceeded to untie her legs.  
  
Such strength, yet despair in Emily's eyes. It was heartening.  
  
« Let's get out of here. » Angel proposed as he and Cordelia put their arms around Emily's waist and helped her down the bed.  
  
« Cordy. » Emily whispered in a weak and painful tone. « I can't. » she then breathed out.  
  
« Don't talk like that. We're getting you out of here, somewhere safe. » Cordelia promised, not listening to the warning tone in her cousin's voice.  
  
They took a few steps before Emily's body crumbled to the floor in pain. She clearly could not stand the weight of her own body. Cordelia threw herself on the floor beside her, encouraging her to get back up, but the young girl simply looked up into Angel's eyes with tears.  
  
« You guys need to get out of here. » she warned them, selflessly.  
  
« Don't be ridiculous! » Cordy argued with frustration.  
  
« Cordy, I'm only slowing you down. » Emily said as her eyes locked with the young seer.  
  
There was a very short pause between the three of them before Cordy and Angel decided to ignore Emily's plea. They grabbed her by the arms, trying to will her to life again.  
  
A loud, resounding noise comming from the corridor made them jump a little and Emily freed herself from Cordelia and Angel's grip, leaning against the wall behind her.  
  
« Cordy.don't let her mess up with you. » emily breathed out.  
  
« Shut up, Em! I'm not leaving you. » Cordy stubbornly retorted in a heartbreaking voice.  
  
« You don't understand. » Emily let herself slide down the wall and sat on the floor. « Cordy, you need to get out. »  
  
« Not without you. »  
  
« I'm only slowing you down. » Emily painfully told her and Angel. « If you don't get out of here, they will kill you. Cordy, listen to me. »  
  
« No. » cordelia's eyes were quickly welling up with tears as Angel looked on, equally fearful.  
  
« You're the only one who can find the way out Cordy. You're the only one who knows. You need to save yourself. »  
  
Angel knelt down before her and grabbed her shoulders in a pleading motion.  
  
« Emily, we're not leaving you here. »  
  
« You have to! » Emily then yelled at him with enough rage to startle him.  
  
« Em. » Cordy began in a rushed tone but Emily stopped her.  
  
«Don't you see what they're doing? Cordelia, if you save me, she'll have won! They are playing with your mind here.I'm not strong enough Cor.I can't. » the young girl was now tearfully speaking. « You need to go!! » she shouted through her teeth.  
  
« What, do you want to die? » Cordelia barely managed to let the words out of her mouth.  
  
There was a painfully short pause between the three of them before Emily finally answered anything. Emily looked deep into her cousin's eyes and she held her breath for a moment, swallowing difficultly.  
  
« No, I don't want to die. I don't want to die alright! Been there, done that. Remember? Of course you remember.that's why I'm here.» she whispered in a shaky voice. « I don't want to die, but you can't save me. Cordelia, you're not supposed to be saving me! I know what you're doing.and that's exactly what they want you to do. She wants you to feel this way. She is playing on your guilt and on your fears. Don't let her! » Emily begged of them both. « Cordy. » she said and then took a deep breath that seemed to make her entire body ache. « You're playing right into her hands.but you can overpower her. Listen to me.You can win. You can do it. »  
  
« I can't.I don't know how. » Cordy said as a small tear rolled down her cheek.  
  
« Yes you do. You just need to remember. » she replied. « Just remember. »  
  
« Remember what? » Angel asked in a trembling voice.  
  
« Just look within. » Emily whispered in a heartbreaking tone as she addressed a very emotional Cordelia. « Look within. »  
  
They all heard footsteps approaching and a sudden panic invaded them all. Cordelia looked over her shoulder frantically and then back to Emily, who was curled up against the wall.  
  
« I'm not letting you die.Not again. I can't watch you die in my arms again.Emily. » she begged between heavy breaths. « I will get you out of here, even if I have to force you to come with me. »  
  
Cordelia's voice was a mixture of pleading and fearing. Her tone was breaking and tearfully emotional. Emily looked into her cousin's eyes and saw the guilt and the pain, and she looked over to Angel, who seemed to mirror Cordelia's determination. Emily knew those looks. The looks of the two most stubborn people she'd ever met. And she knew there was nothing she could say to change their minds.  
  
Nothing.  
  
Without saying a word, she grabbed Cordy's hand, and let her pull her up to her feet. A groan of pain escaped Emily's throat as they wrapped her arms around their shoulders.  
  
Then, that's when it all happened.  
  
Just as Emily was ready to let them help her, she found herself immobilized against the wall. Her feet refused to move. She struggled with fierce but it's like she was stuck on the ground. Then, Angel looked at the wall and noticed some green slime rolling down the wall and wrapping itself around Emily's feet.  
  
« Emily! » he exclaimed, trying to pull on her arm, as Cordy did.  
  
But Emily would still not move. She couldn't. She simply physically could not.  
  
Emily tried to push Angel and Cordelia away from her and from the slime, but neither of them would back off. Angel, not caring about the tattoos in Emily's palms, grabbed one of her hands and began pulling towards him. He felt the painful burn against his skin as the rosary and cross inside Emily's hands pressed against him. But he didn't care. He and Cordelia frantically tried to pull Emily away from the wall, but in vain.  
  
The slime around Emily's feet only crept up her legs at a frightening pace. Then, after a few seconds, the slime began to turn into stone, trapping Emily against the wall.  
  
Cordelia called out for Emily, whose face had now turned a verious shades of pale. She screamed at them both to get away from her but they wouldn't listen. She grabbed something from around her neck and handed it to Angel, as tears filled her eyes. Angel stared at the object hanging from a chain.  
  
A key.  
  
A small key.  
  
He didn't have time to register what it meant until Emily began begging them to let her go.  
  
« I'm not real Cordelia. » she finally said out loud.  
  
« Stop it! » Cordelia argued. « I'm not letting you die. » she said pulling on the girl's legs.  
  
« I'm an image! » Emily then admitted painfully. « I'm just an image inside your head, Cordy! I'm not real! » she said and saw her tears mirrored in Cordelia and Angel's eyes. « You made me up. You made me appear. You made me human.but I'm not real. I'm an image you conjured up, an image you can't let go of. Cordelia. » she breathed as the stone began to creep up her legs and reach her waist. « I'm just a memory. » she cried openly now. « You can't save me from your own memory, Cordy.I'm a memory that's holding you back, and you need to go.You need to let go.You never let me die Cordy. It was never your fault.Just let go. » Emily's tears were running freely now, like an unwanted waterfall. « I'm just an image inside your head.I'm not real. »  
  
Cordelia felt her heart break into millions of tiny pieces as she stared into her cousin's face, still holding her hands into hers.  
  
« It's always real if you believe it, right.? » she whispered in a trembling voice.  
  
Both girls paused and stared at one another. A small, last tear rolled down Cordelia's face before Emily opened her mouth to speak.  
  
« Look within. » she whispered.  
  
Just as the words left her mouth, Emily shoved both Cordy and Angel away with a strength that was unknown to her. A strength that wasn't human.  
  
Angel and Cordelia went flying across the room and landed violently on the ground. Angel protected Cordelia from the fall with his body and quickly wrapped an arm around her. When the both looked up, they saw the last of Emily's head being covered with slime and then turning to stone.  
  
Cordelia stared, mouth slightly agape and eyes wide, at the remains of her cousin.  
  
Stone.  
  
Grey stone.  
  
The statue of Emily was stil reaching her arms in front of her, just as they remembered.  
  
Just then, the earth began to shake and Angel had just enough time to cover Cordy's body with his before the wall exploded and Emily's remains went flying into the room. The tiny pieces of stone settled on the ground slowly and Cordelia tightened her grip around Angel's sweater.  
  
As they both lay on the ground, Angel slightly covering Cordelia's body protectively, Dennis' mother came walking through the hole in the wall.  
  
A small smirk on her face, she finally took the hood of her monk outfit off, revealing her deadly head. Cordy, now both enraged and emotional, stared at her with the coldest expression on her face.  
  
« Oh Great, you again. » Cordy muttered under her breath.  
  
« What did you do to her! » Angel yelled at the ghostly demon.  
  
« Poor Emily. » Dennis' mom laughed bitterly. « She didn't fare too well in the family department as i can see.I guess you ARE meant to let her die at ever chance you get. » she proudly smiled under Cordelia's icy stare.  
  
The hurt, the pain, the loss.it was nothing compared to what both Angel and Cordelia felt at that instant. Cordy's fists tightened around Angel's arm, as they both stared up at the nightmare that stood in front of them.  
  
  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW : It's Christmas Eve and they are all still stuck inside Cordelia's head. What will Cordy and Angel find behind the secret door, and will it strengthen their newfound relationship or drive a wedge in it? Meanwhile, Gunn and Fred must find the right password to save themselves. 


	8. Enigma

CHAPTER 8 - ENIGMA  
  
« Poor Emily. » Dennis' mom, Greta, laughed bitterly. « She didn't fare too well in the family department as i can see.I guess you ARE meant to let her die at ever chance you get. » she proudly smiled under Cordelia's icy stare.  
  
« Shut up! » Cordy gritted through her teeth.  
  
Cordelia leaned on Angel's shoulder and he helped her up into a seating position. She could feel the rage welling up inside of him by the second. She had to grab his forearm to stop him from throwing himself at the demon and killing her right there. For some reason she did not feel like that was the greatest plan at the moment. There were some things fishy still about this entire situation.  
  
« And what will you do to me if I don't? » she wickedly smiled.  
  
Angel and Cordelia got up and stiid in front of the translucent image of Dennis' mom. Protectively, Angel stood slightly in front of Cordy, placing a gentle hand on her arm.  
  
« Stay back. » he said protectively.  
  
« Awww. » The demon-ghost gushed. « How chivalrous of you, but I'll have you know that that bitch here is not exactly a lady in distress. »  
  
Cordelia glared at the woman in front of her with a stare that could kill on demand. Angel remained expressionless as he stared in front of him, his hand still holding Cordy's behind his back.  
  
"You can't escape me..and you sure cannot escape her greatest fear." she then pointed out to an unusually quiet Angel. "You can't escape anything. It's a rule I pleasantly made up myself." she then grinned widely.  
  
"Shut up." Angel finally spoke in a stunningly calm tone. "I don't know what you did to Wesley and Emily, but I will make you pay. You haven't won anything."  
  
Dennis' mother simply smiled in reply.  
  
"I have to admit that I did not expect that, you, Big Guy here, would jump right in to save her."  
  
"Well, then you obviously don't know him." Cordy rolled her eyes.  
  
"Things have indeed changed in the last three years." she mused. "But I guess you knew the risks you were taking.I would be foolish not to play on it." She admitted with strange amusement, addressing Angel once again.  
  
Angel felt the anger gravitate inside of him, his fists tightening dramatically. The only thing that held him back was the slight pull of Cordelia's hand. She seemed to be silently trying to calm him down, and oddly enough, it worked. To a certain degree that is.  
  
"You're afraid." Greta, the evil mother from hell, whispered with inner pleasure.  
  
Cordelia and Angel simply stared at her. Seeing the satisfaction in her eyes agitated Angel once again, but this time Cordelia grabbed his hand firmly and held him back, trying to calm him down.  
  
"Angel don't." she whispered to him, reminding him of what happened the last time he tried to hurt her.  
  
"Very wise decision." Dennis' mother pointed out and then broke into a huge grin. "Fortunately, I am wiser." She then claimed. "And I know how scared you are." She then added, addressing a stoned-face Cordy.  
  
"I'm not afraid of you." Cordelia muttered, holding back her anger.  
  
"I didn't say you were afraid of me."  
  
There was a long silence that followed these words. Angel and Cordy looked at one another before going back to staring at her.  
  
As she spoke the words, Angel and Cordelia's hands clasped together, as if they took comfort in the simple knowledge that someone else was standing beside them.  
  
The ghost waved her hand in a swift movement and a secret door appeared behind her. She moved, glared wickedly towards Cordy and Angel and then laughed out loud.  
  
"This is what you truly are afraid of, and for once, I had nothing to do with it." She snickered. "How ironic that the one thing that could destroy you both has been in here all along." she grinned. "Consider this my Christmas Eve present to you.may it scare you both."  
  
Unable to contain himself one more second, Angel put his vamp face on and launched towards her, but fell right through when she disappeared into thin air. Angel landed on the ground with force.  
  
"Angel!" cordy exclaimed, rushing to his side.  
  
She helped him up and stared at him for a little while. He had not realized he still wore his game face until Cordy reached up and touched the rigles on his forehead with two fingers. With the feel of her touch, he quickly turned back to his human face, his facial traits softening up tremendously.  
  
"What was that all about?" he then asked when she retrieved her fingers.  
  
"I don't know. Who cares.let's just find a way out of here. The quicker the better." She replied with a sigh.  
  
Neither of them truly understood why Dennis' mother had not taken Cordy hostage when she had the chance. It had seemed to be her only goal since the beginning, but oddly enough, she had just let them both go.  
  
They Got up and looked aaround themselves. After further inspection, they realized that their only way out was now the door that had just appeared in front of them.  
  
"Is it really Christmas Eve? We've been in here for 24 hours?" Cordelia raised her eyebrows.  
  
"I guess we have." Angel replied as they both walked in front of the door, carefully.  
  
Angel turned to face Cordy and placed his hands on her shivering shoulders for an instant.  
  
"Are you sure you want to go in there?"  
  
"We don't have much choice." Cordy answered. "Besides, what could be in there that is so traumatizing compared to everything else in here.?" she raised an eyebrow, and Angel nodded silently.  
  
With that said, Angel proceeded in opening the door. He was the first to walk in, followed by an unusually quiet Cordelia.  
  
Everything around them bathed in profound darkness, and neither could see anything. Cordy nearly jumped out of her skin at the unexpected sound of the door slamming behind them. Angel felt her grab his shoulder as he finally reached the switch and turned on the light.  
  
Both of them stood, in awe of what they were seeing, for a while.  
  
There, in the middle of the room, they stood still, gazing at the walls around them with slightly opened mouths and wide eyes. Angel was speechless, while Cordelia appeared uncomfortable all of a sudden.  
  
"Oh Crap!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air.  
  
Angel turned and looked at her questioningly, and she took a deep breath, pointing at the walls.  
  
"It's official!" she raised her eyebrows with emphasis. "I'm a closet brooder!"  
  
--  
  
Gunn and Fred both found themselves standing in front of a large bridge that hung from the ceiling. A gate stood at the end of the bridge and blocked their way to the other side. They both stared at one another with questioning eyes, still reeling from the events of the last 24 hours. Then, Gunn turned to face the huge rock that stood in front of them and read what had been carved into itin big capital letters.  
  
[I][b]Clue #1: "It's weird. I'm actually getting used to being freaked out and comforted at the same time."[/I][/b]  
  
"What does that mean?" Fred asked, uncertain.  
  
"I'm not sure.It looks like a quote to me." Gunn said, as clueless as she was about the whole thing.  
  
They both looked over at the bridge and noticed the dozens of medium squares on the ground. Each one contained a letter. Some were left blank, and that's when it dawned upon them. In order to cross the bridge, they had to find the right password. By it on the floor, the access to the gate at the other end of the bridge would be granted, and they would be able to get to the other side. Gunn faced Fred and took a deep breath.  
  
"So what's this password? How do we find it? And call me paranoid, but somethin' tells me somethin' bad's comin' our way if we get it wrong."  
  
"I'm guessing you're right." Fred replied. "I'm also guessing that this clue is the key to finding the right password." She added with a worried tone. "All we know is this, and that it has to do with Cordelia's subconscious."  
  
The two of them spent an awful amount of time trying to figure out the password but they always came up empty handed. After a while, Gunn noticed something else written on the wall behind Fred.  
  
[I][b]Clue #2: "He's like a bear. The cuddly kind. A care bear with fangs."[/I][/b]  
  
They both looked back and forth between the two clues and Fred seemed to pay a bit more attention to the first one.  
  
"Did she ever say that to you?" Gunn asked her, and Fred shook her head no. "Who would she say that to?"  
  
"Angel." Fred answered after a moment of reflexion.  
  
"What?" Gunn questioned.  
  
"Angel. She would say that to Angel." Fred claimed, turning back to face Gunn. "What would scare her, yet comfort her more than Angel himself?" she asked and Gunn simply shrugged in response.  
  
"So you think that's it?" He then asked.  
  
"How many cuddly bear with fangs do you think Cordelia knows?" Fred said with emphasis.  
  
With that, Gunn led Fred to the entrance of the bridge and took her hand into his. They looked around at the squares on the ground and began to form a strategy to spell out the right password. Slowly, the rock moved out of the way and Gunn stepped onto the first square on which the letter "A" was carved. Fred followed, and so on and so forth until the name "ANGEL" had been spelled on the ground.  
  
Once that was done, nothing seemed to happen. The gate at the end of the bridge was still closed and nothing had moved out of their way. Fred turned around, looked at Gunn with a questioning expression on her face. Gunn suggested that maybe they had to make their way to the gate, using the blank squares now that they had spelled out the password. Therefore, Fred stepped off of her square and onto a blank one beside her.  
  
As soon as her left foot left the "L" square, a giant earthquake hit them and the cave walls around them began shaking like leaves in the wind.  
  
"Fred!!" Gunn yelled at the top of his lungs when he saw large and sharp swords come out of the ceiling.  
  
Fred barely had time to look upward before the swords had begun falling down on her. She tried to move out of the way and shield herself from them but to no avail. Gunn threw himself towards her, trying to shove her out of the way but he was too late. As if the world was now turning in slow motion, he saw the giant swords fall on her and pierce through her shoulder blades. Fred fell down onto the floor painfully, not hearing Gunn's shouting or the sound of the earth moving around them.  
  
Not hearing a thing.  
  
The next thing she felt was Gunn's hand on her shoulders as he removed the sword in one swift movement, prompting a loud scream of pain from the young brunette.  
  
"Fred.Oh God.Fred.look at me.Fred!" Gunn shakily whispered as he turned her over on her back and took her numb and bleeding body in his arms. "Stay with me." he begged of her but he could see she was already too far gone to be brought back.  
  
Her eyes locked with his as a tear rolled down her face. Gunn barely noticed the blood around them, for, in that instant, the simple look on her face occupied all his thoughts. Fred opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.  
  
Not one sound.  
  
And with that pleading look in her eyes, she exhaled her last breath.  
  
"No..Fred!" he begged of her, but it was too late.  
  
Gunn craddled her body in his arms and closed his eyes. He held her close for what seemed like eternity, holding his breath for fear of letting go of too many emotions he wasn't ready to face yet.  
  
--  
  
A small light lit the four walls around Cordy and Angel, making them suddenly aware of their surroundings. Cordelia stared at the walls around her with a stunned expression on her face. So many things she had forgotten.  
  
So many things she wished she did not remember.  
  
Angel walked beside her and stared around the room with an equally impressed expression on his face. Each wall was covered with hundred and hundred of pictures from Cordelia's life.  
  
  
  
"Are you alright?" Angel asked with a loving voice.  
  
Cordelia nodded softly, still inspecting the pictures plastered around the room. Angel felt like a fly on the wall of Cordelia's memories, invading a privacy he felt he shouldn't be invading in the first place. His eyes roamed the walls with a fine attention to details. Some of these memories he had witnessed first hand. Others, he had simply heard about..and others he knew Cordelia had never mentioned before, and never would have in other circumstances.  
  
He turned and looked at the other wall beside him and saw something that tugged at his heart.  
  
  
  
He was forced to read the words twice before he could turn to look at Cordelia. "Cordelia. Words are coming out of your mouth. This is never good." Was written over the pictures. He noticed her staring at the same part of the wall and swallowed difficultly.  
  
"O.K.I'm not much of a dweller.let's get out of here." Cordy hurried Angel towards the door.  
  
"Cordy." Angel's voice came out soft and compassionate. "Is this really how you see your life?"  
  
He stopped her before she could walk passed him and stared into her fearful eyes. She didn't answer him. She didn't necessarily have to. He could read her better than anyone else ever could and she knew it. Buffy, Xander, Willow and all the rest of the Scoobies never saw beyond her tough attitude and sharp-tongue. Angel could.  
  
"It was my life Angel." She acknowledged without regret.  
  
"It wasn't all of it." He countered but she never flinched and kept her unapologetic face on.  
  
"It was, Angel." She reenforced. "And I'm not ashamed of it. I don't regret the stupid things I said because as stupid as they were, they were honest. I don't regret the insults I threw at Buffy either because at the time, I meant them." She said in a very quiet voice. "It was my life. It was different from now, but that's perfectly fine." She nonchalantly added. "This is pointless so let's just go."  
  
"Cordy." Angel insisted, looking above her head.  
  
She was standing with her back to the door. Her eyes seemed to be begging for him to let it go, but he didn't. He then looked above her shoulder and something caught his eye  
  
Two small picture hanging solemnly above the door, with very little space in between. The faces on t he pictures were what really struck him and he found himself frozen for a few seconds, finally realizing what this entire room was about, what Cordy's fear was.  
  
Cordelia turned around and saw what he had been looking at over her shoulder. She lowered her eyes, biting her lower lip, and she paused for a moment. A picture of herself with Buffy, and one of Angel and Buffy in each other's arms.  
  
  
  
"Can't we just get out of here??" she said suddenly.  
  
Cordelia then moved towards the door and attempted to open it. Her efforts were in vain though because the door seemed to be stuck, or locked, whichever it was, she and Angel were stuck in that room for the time being.  
  
"Cordy." he emotionally spoke as she kept on trying to open the door. "Is that what you're worried about? Afraid of?" he asked as she slowly turned around and let go of the door. "It's Buffy.?"  
  
Cordelia took a deep breath and lifted his eyes up to his.  
  
"Not the way you think." she finally replied.  
  
An intense silence invaded the room, wrapping its timeless arms around their beings. Angel lowered his eyes as he walked closer to her.  
  
"You never said anything." he whispered.  
  
"It's not important."  
  
"It is to me."  
  
Cordelia paused and pondered her words, taking a deep breath before looking into Angel's eyes.  
  
"I'm not her Angel." she whispered in all honesty. "I'm not Buffy.I never will be."  
  
A long silence followed these words as Angel porcessed what Cordelia had just confessed out loud.  
  
"Is that what you think? That I expect you to be Buffy in some way?" He asked, his voice almost pained.  
  
"I used to." She admitted. "I used to think that whoever came into your life would be a pale comparison of Mighty Buffy." She breathed out in a soft voice. "I don't anymore."  
  
"Then what is it? You think I'm still in love with Buffy? Or that I'm replacing her with you?" he asked, confused now.  
  
"That's not it." she quickly reassured him.  
  
"Because I'm not. I'm not replacing her with you." he insisted in a caring tone.  
  
"Angel.that's not it." She hesitated for a second or two before continuing. "I used to think you'd always need a Buffy-like person in your life. That that's what you needed AND wanted.I don't anymore. I know that's not what you're trying to do.It's just."  
  
"What?" Angel asked her kindly.  
  
Cordelia paused birefly, pushing a few strands of still wet hair behind her ears. She took a few steps closer to Angel, glancing up into his eyes with a softness that caressed his unbeating heart. Still, a few small hidden tears took shelter behind her big hazel eyes.  
  
"The last 6 years of my life has been somewhat related to Buffy. I mean, just look up there." She said pointing at the walls filled with mementos. "Up until recently, it's always been about Buffy. For Willow, for Giles, Xander.for you." she whispered, seeing how Angel lowered his eyes at the mere mention of Buffy's name. "Buffy's always been the be all and end all. And you know what? I actually got used to it. I bitched about it wholeheartedly, but I got used to it." She admitted, searching his figure for a glimpse of understanding on his part. What she found was a man completely attentive to everything she was saying. "To a point where I didn't even mind.Xander would always be infatuated with her.Willow would always be her dutiful sidekick.And you.you'd always be Buffy's Angel." She paused and took a deep breath. "And in a really weird way, it kind of became the only consistant thing in my mind. Whatever happened.whenever the fate of the world was at stake, I could always count on everyone around me to worry about Buffy. Including you." She softly spoke. "And I'm not trying to sound whiny or be pitied. It was just a fact of life in Sunnydale." Cordelia spoke in a remarkable honesty. "She was always the center of everything you did. And somehow, somewhere along the way, I became the ultimate believer in the fact that it would never change. It almost became comforting." She then paused again, looked into his face, and breathed in every ounce of his quietness. "And then, one night..under pouring rain.you kissed me. And all of a sudden, I wasn't the disposable supporting player anymore.It wasn't about Buffy.And that scared me." She finished, staring into his eyes.  
  
"Why?" Angel asked in a moved, caring tone.  
  
They both stood still in silence and Angel searched her face for a sign of regret but he found none.  
  
"It scared me because I liked it." She whispered and then paused momentarily. "It scared me because it had never been NOT about Buffy before. It caught me off guard." She admitted. "It scared me because of all of this!" she then said, pointing at the numerous pictures on the wall.  
  
Angel watched her take a few steps towards the wall and sensed her heart skip a beat. She stared at the pictures for a few seconds, holding her breath and then lowered her eyes and leaned her back against the murale behind her.  
  
"I liked it." she repeated in a voice so soft that a normal human may not have heard her. "And it scared me.Do I go back to being the person on these walls if it all gets reversed?"  
  
Cordelia sat down on the floor, her back against the wall and curled her legs up, wrapping her arms around them. She leaned her head backwards and stared at the wall, where other pictures were plastered. Angel stepped forward and sat beside her, slowly. He sat in a similar position and swallowed back the lump in his throat.  
  
"You're not the teenager in those pictures anymore.You're not the girl who trailed behind Buffy and her friends. I don't think you ever truly were." Angel whispered to her in a comforting voice. "Anyone who speaks to you for five minutes knows that. And the last thing I want is for you to feel like a runner-up..for you to feel second." he immediately added with emotion-filled eyes.  
  
"I don't." Cordy interrupted him quickly. "I don't." she repeated gently. "That's what I'm trying to tell you.I know how much you loved Buffy, but when I'm with you, I don't feel second. When you look at me, I KNOW I'm not second."  
  
"You're not." Angel reinforced.  
  
"I know." she whispered with a soft smile. "And I guess that's what scared methe most.I didn't know what it meant."  
  
Thoughts of her parents invaded her head. She thought of all the times she wished they had put her first, but always fell second to something or someone else. She thought back to her High School years, to the Scoobies, to her childhood..to her whole life. For the first time in her life, when Angel had kissed her, she had truly felt like she was at the right place at the right time. She didn't feel second. Something she wasn't quite used to. Something she never thought could last. Something that slightly frightened her.  
  
She had always believed that Angel would be in love with Buffy Summers for as long as he'd walk this earth, and she had held on to that belief. Somehow, Angel had done the same thing as well. Now, the feelings between he and Cordelia tempered with those beliefs, which scared them a little.  
  
Angel slowly reached for her hand and took it into his.  
  
"Then we can both be scared together." he whispered as their fingers intertwined in a melodious sight.  
  
Cordelia looked up into his loving face and they both stared at one another for a while. She then smiled brightly, and sighed. Angel couldn't help but return her contagious smile, watching her as she shook her head.  
  
"Not exactly how I had planned to spend Christmas Eve." she sighed. "If I could wish for something, I'd wish for all of u s to just get out of here before this becomes a very bad trip down memory lane." she smiled. "I'd want Wesley and Emily back." she then whispered, her voice nearly breaking under her words.  
  
Angel raised an eyebrow when he saw her stop there. His facial expression pushed to be slightly more honest.  
  
"Okay, okay, and I'd wish for those new shoes we saw two weeks ago.happy now??" she laughed, and then paused momentarily. "All seems meaningless now, does it?" she asked softly.  
  
"Not really." he replied with the same amount of tenderness.  
  
"Oh, and that curse of yours.I'd do something with that too." she quickly replied with an amused frown, that made Angel smile to himself.  
  
He simply looked at her, and even though he knew she was trying to lighten up the mood from their previous conversational topic, he could see she meant well. They had a simple yet silent understanding that seemed to ease the fear of the uncertainties a little. They had each other.  
  
"What would you wish for?" she asked him, taking him out of his reveries.  
  
Angel didn't need time to find an answer. He already knew what he not only WOULD wish for, but what he had ALREADY wished for. He still took his time to answer, looking down at their joined hands.  
  
"I already have what I'd wish for." he whispered, looking up into her eyes as he did so.  
  
Their eyes met under the millions of faces on the walls, and Cordy let out a long breath, smiling. Angel slowly lowered his face to hers and gently pressed his lips against hers. As their lips met, the small picture of Angel and Buffy on the wall began ungluing itself and soon fell down to the floor, floowed by the rest of the entire murales. One by one, the pictures seemed to fall face down onto the floor.  
  
Their lips moved in a slow dance before finally coming to a halt and taking a bow. Angel rested his forehead against hers, and when they opened their eyes, they were amazed by the sight that graced them. As if called on by the heavens - or by Cordelia's subconscious in this case - millions of tiny snow flakes fell all around the room. Cordy and Angel both looked up in silence, admiring the tiny hopeful miracle that had been thrown at them.  
  
Soon after, Angel placed his jacket over Cordelia's shivering shoulders.  
  
Still holding hands, Cordy rested her head on Angel's shoulder. Angel took a deep unecessary breath and concentrated on the sound beating of her heart against him.  
  
They just sat there, holding hands, leaning against the wall and watching as pictures and snow fell and covered the ground at their feet.  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW: Gunn learns that monsters come in all shapes, sizes.and numbers, while Cordy and Angel take a leap of fate. 


	9. Cliffhanger

CHAPTER 9 - CLIFFHANGER  
  
A small towel carefully hovered over Cordelia's head while an invisible hand proceeded in wiping the sweat from her forehead. Emily, who was now sitting on the other side of the bed, held Cordy's hand into hers tightly.  
  
Being an immortal ghost and all, she seemed to be conversing with a very much invisible Dennis.  
  
"Being invisible must be a bummer." She said with a funny expression on her face. "I mean, I got the good deal. I can come here looking like a human.I know.I know.Working for the Powers has its advantages."  
  
They seemed to be chatting, while taking care of Cordelia, when Emily stopped talking and lifted her eyes up to the wall above her cousin's head.  
  
There, in big bold letters, two other names appeared.  
  
EMILY and FRED.  
  
Emily lowered her eyes and took a deep breath. She held on to Cordy's hand as if she was holding a silent prayer between her fingers. She then saw the towel drop onto the floor and heard a small chair be pulled up beside hers. She turned to look at the seemingly empty chair and sighed.  
  
"Have faith Dennis.Have faith." she whispered, lowered her eyes again.  
  
--  
  
Gunn looked up under the peaceful snow flakes, still holding Fred's lifeless body in his arms, and held his breath. How could such a beautiful sight be clouded by the tragedy that lied in his arms?  
  
With immense carefulness, he lowered Fred's body down onto the ground and placed his jacket on top of her, as if to warm up her freezing muscles. He took a deep breath, masterfully holding back his emotions, and he got up to his knees. He looked up and noticed, as he had expected, that access to the other side of the bridge had been denied. What he had not quite expected were the numerous demons that sprung from everywhere, waiting for him to make his move. Some were armed, some were frightening in themselves.  
  
With clenched teeth and a fierce anger in his eyes, Gunn stared at them intently. As the snow fell on his head and began covering the ground around him, he let go of Fred's cold hand and got up to his feet. He grabbed the sword that had killed his friend and looked back and forth between the entrance of the bridge and the large wall that blocked the other side. Seeing that there was absolutely no way he could cross the bridge, he decided to head backwards. The simple thought of leaving Fred there killed him inside.  
  
With anger rising in his eyes, he raised his swords and walked towards the many demons waiting for him at the joining of the road and the bridge.  
  
One of the demons leaped and threw himself at Gunn with a force unknown to humans. In one quick movement, Gunn sliced the demon with his sword, and much to his surprise, the beast didn't die. Instead, he multiplied himself in dozens of tiny little baby demons. Gunn stared with wide eyes as he witnessed the mess in which he found himself.  
  
--  
  
Four empty walls stared down at the picture-covered floor around a sleeping Cordy and Angel. Every picture lied face down around them. Her head rested on his shoulder while his jacket wrapped itself around her.  
  
Angel slowly opened his eyes and noticed the sleeping beauty on his arm. He carefully reached his hand up and brushed her hair away from her face, mentally breathing in the essence of her calmness. Cordy stirred underneath his touch and sleepily opened her eyes. She lifted her head and looked up to meeth Angel's eyes. She straightened herself a little and they both smiled.  
  
"Hi." Angel whispered, never breaking eye contact.  
  
"Hi." she replied with a bright, sleepy smile.  
  
Angel got up and helped her up to her feet. They both looked around at the empty walls and at the floor, and then Cordy frowned.  
  
"What happened to the door?" She then asked, clearing her throat.  
  
There, in place of the door, stood a tall ladder that led to places unknown.  
  
Cordelia then looked down under feet and saw a small trap that led, like the ladder, to places she didn't even dare imagine. She looked up and shared a meaningful silence with Angel as they both pondered there options.  
  
"Cordelia, you're the only one who can find the exit to this labyrinth we seem to be stuck in.Emily told me to help you find it, and I will." Angel told her, placing a hand on her shoulders.  
  
"Angel.I don't know that way out." she told him again, this time with a bit of hesitation and regret filling her words.  
  
"Think Cordy..think." he said, looking intently in her eyes.  
  
"What else do you think I'm doing?" she snapped, and then bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. "I don't understand how I'm supposed to know the way out.I'm as lost as you are in here for the record." she said in a softer tone, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Emily said to look within." Angel remembered, slipping into a thoughtful mode. "So it has to do with you.the answer is somewhere in you.look within." he repeated as he still heard Emily's voice in his head.  
  
"How much more within can we get??" Cordelia asked, shooting him a very intent look. "We're inside my head!" she emphasized before turning away from him and staring at the room they stood in. "I can't be more 'within' than this Angel."  
  
Her eyes roamed the walls and the floor, slowly moving over the pictures that rested on the ground. Cordy ran her hands through her hair and sighed, massaging the back of her neck slowly. Angel moved behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, whispering her name with that particular voice Cordy had come to know so well. A voice filled with tenderness, yet concern. A voice that reflected a diverse mixture of emotion. She turned to face him and then found herself lowering her eyes thoughtfully.  
  
"Angel, what if." she began but he stopped her by taking her hands into his and asking her to look at him.  
  
"You will find it.you will." he whispered to her.  
  
The two of them stood there, in the middle of the room, looking at each other, for what seemed like forever. Angel found himself captivated by the lines on her face. She was afraid - he could feel it - but she was also stronger than she had been before. There was an assurance in her eyes that he remembered as being a huge part of the Cordelia he knew in Sunnydale. She had a determination that could have tore down walls in the way she bravely smiled.  
  
Angel couldn't help but smile back. It was beyond his control. A smile from her seemed to ease every inquiry, every doubt, and every fear that inhabited him. One tiny smile. A glimpse of a grin. That's all it took.  
  
"We should start by getting out of here." Angel then suggested, taking her left hand into his right one. "We'll figure the rest once we're somewhere safe.well.safer." he added, leading her towards the ladder.  
  
"Angel wait." She said, pulling on his arm. "I have a bad feeling about this.maybe we should go down there instead." she suggested in return.  
  
"I don't think that's a good idea."  
  
"I think it is."  
  
"Cordy."  
  
"hey, this is my head." she frowned. "Angel."  
  
"Okay." Angel said after a short pause. "Okay.maybe you're right." he surrendered and walked towards the trap.  
  
He knelt down and grabbed the handles tightly, and pulled on the trap door. Cordy did the same on the other side and helped him pull on the very rusty door. The two of them barely had time to synchronize their pulling before they heard loud growls coming from under there. Sounds of chains and beasts approaching resounded in the room and Cordy jumped, followed by Angel, who stood in front of her protectively.  
  
"Okay." Cordy said in a tiny voice. "So, on second thought, maybe your way was better." she admitted.  
  
"What?" Angel turned to face her with a surprised expression on his face.  
  
"What what?!"  
  
"Are you saying I'm right?" Angel asked with wide eyes.  
  
"Can we do this later, like, after we try not to die??!" she emphasized, grabbing his arm at the sound of the pouding from underground.  
  
Angel led her to the ladder and let her climb up first. He hurried her a little when he saw the trap door shake once again under the pounding of God knows what monsters. He followed closely behind her as they climbed into a suffocating darkness.  
  
After a few seconds of climbing in silence, Cordy opened hermouth to speak but stopped herself. Then, in a shaky breath, she asked:  
  
"Angel?"  
  
"Yes?" she heard closely behind her.  
  
"Good." she breathed out. "Just checking." she said taking a deep breath and continuing her escape.  
  
The two of them reached the top of the ladder, and in the dark, she and Angel tried to push open the door above their heads. Her body was pressed against Angel's as they both desperately tried to get out of the vertical tunnel.  
  
"Ow! Angel's it's stuck!" she said through her teeth and as her head hit the ceiling, she groaned in pain.  
  
"Not exactly something a guy likes to hear in a dark room with a woman, Cordy." Angel sighed, still trying to push open the trap door.  
  
Cordy slightly slapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Are you making sex jokes while we're running for our lives???" she demanded with wide eyes that pierced through the darkness. She then held her breath for a moment and looked stunned for a moment. "Oh my God, you're making jokes, period. This place is highly affecting your vampire brain cells." she mumbled.  
  
She and Angel give it one more try and finally manage to push the door open. He helps her up a little and she finds her way out of the hole they had crawled from. Angel quickly follows her outside and slams the door shut, putting a large piece of wood on it to keep it locked.  
  
When he finally looks up, he and Cordy find themselves standing in the middle of a desert. Sand is the only thing they can see, except for a couple of rocks at a fair distance from them. Cordy's face turns pale as she feels a soft wind blow through her hair. Something isn't quite right.  
  
"Cordy." Angel whispered, getting the same bad vibe she was getting. "Where are we?" he asked, looking over at her.  
  
"A Brendan Fraser movie?" she innocently offered, faking a bright smile, and then swallowing back the fear invading her throat. She sighed and looked around before whispering: "This looks like the frightening setting for a very ugly, cinematographic finale."  
  
Her voice was low and shaky, and at the moment the words left her mouth, the wind intensified. Soon enough, both she and Angel were shielding their faces from the attacking sand. The soft wind she had previously enjoyed had quickly turned into a violent storm.  
  
"Did I say that out loud?" she then gasped, seeing the earth begin to move in front of them.  
  
As if awaken by Cordelia's words, the ground began to shake, and the wind blew harder. Angel grabbed Cordy's hand into his and theyboth took a few steps back when they noticed that the grains of sand seemed to have a mind of their own. Soon enough, a giant sandy face sprung from the ground, opening its mouth as if it intended to swallow them whole. The ten-feet- tall face, made entriely of sand and glued together by the menacing wind, threw itself at Angel. He quickly pushed Cordelia out of the way in an attempt to protect her and leaped from the ground to avoid being eaten alive by some demonic sand-castle-like figure.  
  
Cordy rose to her feet and ran towards Angel, who had landed nearby. She grabbed his hand and the two of them began to run for their lives. Angel barely felt the ground beneath his feet for they ran so fast. He looked over his shoulder repeatedly, to make sure the gigantic sand-made face wasn't catching up to them.  
  
Cordy heard screams into the night, beasts, growls and many more unusual noises coming from the face that trailed behind them. Keeping a firm hold on Angel's hand, she kept running beside him.  
  
They were hurrying to escape the chasing figure when they suddenly, and violently stopped in their tracks. Angel grabbed Cordy's shoulders and pulled her back from the edge of a tall cliff. He felt the rapid heartbeat inside her chest as he did so. At a loss for what to do now, they both looked over their shoulders and saw that the face was heading straight for them.  
  
"Borrowed Gunn's DVD player often?" Angel asked, raising an eyebrow as he did so.  
  
"Note to self.cancel my membership to Blockbuster." she breathlessly spoke, looking back and forth between the cliff and the approaching face behind them. "I've obviously seen way too many of those movies." She added with a gasp.  
  
Blinded by the wind and the sand, she and Angel struggled to see through the storm. The vampire felt the threat coming closer and closer, so he tightened his grip on Cordy's hand and stared intently into her eyes. He didn't have to speak. She knew immediately what he was thinking, and she held her breath for a split-second.  
  
"Angel no." she whispered with fear, letting go of his hand. "I can't." she said but Angel simply looked at her with desperately reassuring eyes.  
  
"Just grab my hand." He tended his hand in front of her again. "Cordy."  
  
The way he said her name with such care and emotion, brought on a very short pause between them.  
  
"Do you trust me?" he asked her.  
  
If he'd had a breath, he would have held it. If his heart had been beating, it would have momentarily stopped. It would have begun to beat again when she quickly grabbed his hand into her warm one. There were no need for words. No need for explanation. The gesture had said it all, and without further hesitation, she and Angel looked down at the neverending cliff and jumped just in time to escape the sharp teeth of the sandy-beast.  
  
Holding on to one another, trusting one another, they just jumped. Without thinking, without fearing, they took a leap of faith.  
  
Into the abyss.  
  
Into the unknown.  
  
Into their destiny.  
  
  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW: Dennis' mother plans Cordelia's punishment and torture, but will Angel, Cordy and Gunn live long enough to stop her evil plans? 


	10. Chains Of Love

CHAPTER 10 - Chains of love  
  
Through the thick fog that had enveloped the night, soft rain began to pour helplessly. The weather now frighteningly chilly, sounds was heard in the darkness.  
  
Angel was helping Cordelia out of the swamp that had broken their fall. She grabbed his hand with an amazing amount of strength and let herself be pulled out of the mixture of water and mud in which she'd found herself. When she was completely out, Angel knelt beside her, cupping her face with both his hands and staring into her eyes.  
  
"Are you okay?" Angel asked in a bare whisper.  
  
Cordelia, who uncharacteristically found herself at a loss for words, simply nodded in response. She felt Angel's hands brush some soaked strands of hair away from her cheeks and she briefly held her breath, as if to hold on to this feeling for as long as she could. When his hands left her skin, she reminded herself to breathe again.  
  
He helped her up to her feet, and she slipped her hand into his, which came as a natural gesture for the both of them.  
  
Angel shot a very futile look upward to the cliff from which they had jumped and took an unnecessary breath.  
  
"Do you think that "thing", whatever it was, is still chasing us?" she asked, clinging to his hand.  
  
"I don't think so." Angel whispered, trying to sound as reassuring as he possibly could. "I think we lost it when we jumped off." He stated, looking back down into Cordy's eyes.  
  
She then felt a sudden panic in Angel's eyes and stared at him until he let go of her hand.  
  
"What is it?" she asked him, sensing the urgency in his movements.  
  
He patted the side of his jacket, and then searched through his pockets, obviously in desperate search of something.  
  
"The key." He let out in a frantic tone.  
  
"Do you still have it?" Cordy immediately asked as the rain intensified. "Angel?" she spoke up when he didn't answer.  
  
After a few seconds, Angel found the key, safe and sound inside his jeans' pocket. He pulled it out, prompting a huge sigh of relief from Cordelia. Neither of them knew why Emily had given them the key, but they were positive that if she had gathered the energy to do so before dying, then its importance was meaningful.  
  
It's only then that they realized just where they were standing - which basically was the middle of nowhere once again. Looking around, they noticed a few trees, but mostly just sand. They saw some rocky mountains surrounding them, bringing only more darkness to an already somber rainy night.  
  
"Angel." Cordy said, gripping his hand tighter when a noise escaped from behind a large rock.  
  
"Stay back." Angel whispered as he protectively placed an arm around her to keep her behind him.  
  
The noise became footsteps to Angel's ears and he was just about ready to switch into vamp face when he saw a tall black man stumble down on the floor in front of him.  
  
"Oh my god." Cordy whispered in a shaky breath as she realized that the intruder was none other than Gunn.  
  
She and Angel rushed towards the man now spread across the sand. Gunn was holding onto his arm in pain, his breathing heavy and uneven. Angel was the first one to reach the young man, and he tried to see where Gunn was hurt through the pouring rain. Cordy arrived right behind him and threw herself on the ground beside the two men. Gunn was obviously in serious pain.  
  
"Gunn.Gunn?" Cordy called out his name several time as the young man twisted in pain on the ground.  
  
"Cordy..?" Gunn managed to ask, raising his eyes to meet the two faces that hovered over him. "You found her." he barely managed to let out, addressing Angel.  
  
"Yes, what happened to you?" Angel asked, trying to keep his fears under control. "Where are Fred and Lorne?" He then asked, worries suddenly filling his voice.  
  
Gunn didn't answer. He simply looked up and the pain and tears in his eyes revealed it all. Angel felt his fingers tighten into fists and he clenched his jaw, holding back his threatening burst of emotion. Angel cast a very emotional glance towards Cordelia, whose face was covered with a mixture of rain and tears. He couldn't discern which was which, but the look in her eyes told him both were very much present.  
  
They managed to pull Gunn up into a seating position and made him lean against the rock behind him. Through the dark, Angel noticed the deep claw marks on Gunn's shoulder and left leg. But they weren't usual claw marks. They were filled with some sort of yellow slime.  
  
"Angel." Cordy fearfully spoke up when she noticed what Angel was eyeing.  
  
The vampire reached with a careful hand and touched Gunn's wound, making him jerk away from Angel's touch immediately.  
  
"Gunn, what happened to the others?" Angel asked him, a bit in a rush.  
  
"They just..we saw things." Gunn began, out of breath and struggling to get the words out. "Oh God Barbie we saw.they..they just.we tried." he gasped in between in-takes of air. "They're gone." He then finally spoke, leaving a dreadful silence hanging over their heads.  
  
Cordelia suddenly jerked up on her feet and turned her back to Angel and Gunn. She ran both of her hands through her hair, desperately, and sighed inwardly. A weighty guilt seemingly fell on her shoulders as tears sprung from her eyes.  
  
"Cordy?" Angel's voice rang from behind her.  
  
She hadn't heard him calling out to her several times. When she turned around, their eyes met with an intensity unmatched before. He saw her lower her eyes and break eye contact after a moment.  
  
"We're going to fix this." Angel whispered to her, helping Gunn stand up on his own two feet.  
  
"How?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. "How, Angel??! How am I going to fix this when I don't even know how?" Angel's un-beating heart broke under the intensity of her outburst. "Why is it assumed that I know how to fix it? Why is it assumed that I'm supposed to know the way out of here?" she was now yelling at him and she realized so immediately after the words had left her mouth.  
  
She paused and took a deep breath, wiping the rain out of her eyes with one shaky hand.  
  
"I heard them." Gunn's voice was the catalyst that broke the silence that had wrapped its arms around them suddenly.  
  
Angel and Cordy both looked at him expectantly.  
  
"The Gargoyles." Gunn found the strength to speak louder and more comprehensively. Off their questioningly stunned look he continued. "They were talking about a garden.they don't want you there.to find it." he informed them.  
  
"A garden?" Angel asked, his eyes going back and forth between a hurt Gunn and a soaking wet Cordelia.  
  
Cordy looked both thoughtful and confused when Angel caught a glimpse of her expression.  
  
"They said something about peace..and about torture and their master's plan."  
  
"Where did you hear this?" Angel demanded through his teeth.  
  
"The bridge.near the bridge." Gunn said while Cordelia and Angel grabbed each of his arms and helped him stand up more properly.  
  
--  
  
Revealed by the lack of her monk outfit, Dennis' mother took a few steps towards the middle of a large, creepy room. Her very pale features seemingly smirked into the night.  
  
"Why let them go when you had them right there at your mercy?" a grumpy voice asked from the corner of the room where dozens of demons dressed as monks stood.  
  
"It wasn't time." She grinned from ear to ear, obviously enjoying herself. "She needed to see more.to lose more." she then added, looking into her large bubble, where she could see Cordy and Angel carrying a severely injured Gunn through the rain.  
  
"What if she finds it?" a female, somewhat familiar voice was heard among the crowd.  
  
"She won't." Dennis' mother positively replied with a dry sigh. "It's her peaceful sanctuary.after what I'll do to her, she will never find it. She'll never reach that place inside of her again."  
  
"What will you do to her? You already killed most of her stupid friends." the female voice half-stated and half-asked from a distance.  
  
"I will make her watch." She replied, smirking to herself with evil pouring out of her eyes.  
  
The room stayed silent for a while and Dennis' mother turned back to face the crowd of demon. Among her fanatic evildoers stood three colorful figures, unmasked, unlike the others. She looked at the three blood- sucking vampires and smiled playfully.  
  
"It's time." She told them.  
  
A blond vampire followed by two sultry female vampires stepped up from the crowd with hungry eyes.  
  
"I love torturing the innocents.." The same female voice as before laughed, clinging to Spike and Drusilla's arms.  
  
--  
  
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Cordy asked after two hours of walking through tunnels and corridors.  
  
"Yeah." Gunn breathed out, leaning on her and Angel as the three of them kept on walking.  
  
After a while, the three soaking wet friends arrived at the aforementioned bridge and stared at the debris of the earthquake it had endured. Cordy let her eyes roam the wall and read the clues that had been carved into the rock. She then looked towards Angel, who had also read the words to himself. Gunn led them onto the bridge and that's when they saw it. Freezing in their tracks, a sudden pain grabbed their hearts and twisted it into knots.  
  
Cordelia held her breath, the sight of Fred's dead and bleeding body spread across the squares almost making her stomach turn. Tears welled up in her tired eyes as Angel stared at her, equally moved by the sight that stood in front of them.  
  
It's at that moment that Gunn let go of his two friends and let himself fall down upon his knees, never leaving the sight of Fred's tortured corpse. Before either Angel or Cordelia could ask, Gunn offered the answer to their silent question.  
  
"Wrong password." He said as a painful explanation for what happened.  
  
Quite frankly, neither Cordy nor Angel could stomach a longer explanation than this. Angel was the first one to take a step forward. He walked to Fred's body and swallowed difficultly as he reached out to touch her cold features.  
  
Cordelia, for her part, walked around the squares, almost absent-mindedly, and tried to grasp the whole thing. All the demons Gunn had claimed to face were now gone, leaving only them, the squared bridge, and the loss of a friend.  
  
"You spelled Angel." she then suddenly whispered out loud, prompting Angel and Gunn to raise their eyes up to her. "You picked 'Angel' as the password." she repeated, realizing their mistakes all of a sudden.  
  
"Yeah.Fred thought." Gunn tried but stopped himself when he saw Cordelia shake her head with agitation.  
  
"What is it? Do you know the password?" Angel got up and rushed to her side as he posed the question.  
  
"Step on the 'U'." she told him in that voice that told both Gunn and Angel that it wasn't a suggestion but mostly an order.  
  
Only Cordelia Chase could make these two men obey her so easily. And in this case, they had no choice. This was her head, and if anyone could make sense of anything in here, it would be her. At least she had better chances of knowing what she was doing than they were.  
  
When Angel was firmly standing on the 'U', Cordy moved and stepped on the 'S' that stood nearby. Gunn stared as the gates began to open up on the other side of the bridge. He was now realizing the mistake he and Fred had made. He looked back and forth between the two letters Cordelia had added to their previous answer, and he subtly caught sight of the expression on Angel's face. The fact that it was Angelus and not Angel that the clues were referring to was not lost on the vampire.  
  
As soon as the gates were opened, Cordelia and Angel stepped off their squares and turned around to go get Gunn, whom they had left on the floor a few feet behind.  
  
However, they didn't have time to get him, for, when they turned around, two very familiar hands were holding him still. Angel growled at the sight of the person that was holding Gunn hostage. Sweat rolled down Gunn's forehead as he felt the fangs of the blonde vampire near his neck.  
  
"Darla." Angel gritted through his teeth and pulling Cordy closer to him.  
  
"Hello my boy." she smiled, jerking Gunn's arm backwards, causing him to yell in pain.  
  
"Let him go." Cordy couldn't help but tell Darla.  
  
Darla's laughter rang in the air like an evil call for pleasure. Unbeknownst to them, two other undead beings had made their way behind them. With a quick move of his hands, Spike jerked Cordelia away from Angel, who became alarmed by the girl's scream. Spike covered her mouth with his hands and laughed at Angel.  
  
"New toy?" he asked, eyeing Cordy's body up and down.  
  
"Son of a." Angel gritted through his teeth as he launched for Spike.  
  
Unfortunately for Angel, he was stopped mid-sentence by a large object that came in contact with the back of his head. Angel crumbled to his knees, obviously knocked out from the blow, and even though she tried to call out to him, Cordelia's words only met a tragic fate against the palm of Spike's hands. Drusilla's smile brightened as she playfully swung the heavy and large piece of metal in the air a couple of times to celebrate her victory. She licked her lips as she turned to face a very hungry Darla, who was still teasing a very frightened Gunn.  
  
Cordy tried to kick and scream but Spike's hands were to strong for her. Drusilla bent down on a weak Angel and injected him some drug that quickly reduced him to mush.  
  
"Oh come on.aren't we having fun?" Darla asked, seeing a weak Angel slowly looking up from the floor. "I'm very disappointed in you.you had to sink as low as going for a brunette?" she raised an eyebrow.  
  
Rage sprung from Cordy's eyes at the mention. But the thought soon vanished from her mind as she helplessly witnessed what happened next.  
  
Darla lunged for Gunn's neck, sinking her sharp teeth into his warm flesh. Gunn's screamed in pain as he felt the blood being drained from him. Tears welled up in Cordy's eyes as the scene was displayed in slow motion in front of her.  
  
She saw Gunn's body being dropped on the floor while Darla took a few steps towards her.  
  
She didn't have time to comprehend what was happening to her before she felt a sharp needle being stuck into her arm. In a matter of seconds, she felt dizzy and her whole body became numb. Cordelia crumbled onto the floor helplessly while Darla, Spike and Drusilla stood over the three bodies with silly grin on their faces.  
  
--  
  
When Gunn's name was spelled onto the wall above Cordelia's bed, Emily let an angry sigh escape her throat.  
  
One more name.  
  
One more loss.  
  
She closed her eyes for a moment and then sprung off her chair. The chair beside her moved and she knew that Dennis had stood up as well, alarmed by her sudden outburst.  
  
"I can't let this happen." she said through her teeth, the look in her eyes reminding Dennis of Cordelia's determined expression.  
  
He knew better than to argue with the young Ghost/angel.  
  
"You stay with her, I'll be right back." She said, heading straight for the door.  
  
Against his better judgment, Dennis stopped her by shutting the door in front of her. A word was quickly scrambled across the door with a large black marker.  
  
"WHERE???"  
  
"Just have a little faith Dennis." she whispered to him, looking straight in front of her. "Just stay with her, and take care of her while I'm gone." She added and then turned to face Dennis - whom she could see, contrary to ordinary humans. "There's something I need to do." she softly said.  
  
After a few seconds, the door opened in front of her and she took a deep breath.  
  
"Thanks Dennis." She whispered before rushing out of the apartment.  
  
The door to Cordy's bedroom slowly closed once Emily had exited the building, and the black marker was placed on top of a desk. Over Cordelia's head, a wet cloth hovered and was slowly lowered on Cordy's feverish face.  
  
--  
  
Cordelia woke up to find her face plastered against the cold hard floor. She painfully moved her arms and heard the clinging sound of metal making her head ache. She stretched her neck and saw that she was chained to the wall behind her. Her hands and her feet were all chained. She managed to pull herself up into a seating position and that's when she saw it.  
  
A gasp escaped her throat and she felt like she was going to be sick. Whether it was from fear or from the drug, she wasn't too sure.  
  
There, in front of her, across the room, Angel lied, unconscious, on the freezing ground. Bruises and scratches marked his bare chest and his back as he, too, lied there, chained to his own wall. Cordy moved to her knees and realized that her chains allowed her to reach Angel's body.  
  
She called out his name a couple of times, but he didn't move. Making her way across the floor, she grabbed her right arm in pain, noticing the scratch on her skin, which had ripped apart the sleeve of her shirt. Just as she was about to reach Angel, she saw him move briefly.  
  
"Angel!" she called out, as he tried to pull himself up.  
  
In his attempt, he only found himself falling back down onto the floor. Unsuccessfully trying to hold back her tears, Cordy reached him and wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders. Angel was obviously at his weakest, which scared Cordelia more than anything. She had rarely seen him in such a state. Whatever they had done to him while they were both unconscious must have been bad.  
  
"Cordy." Angel whispered, unable to finish his sentence for lack of strength.  
  
"Shhh.I'm here." she whispered back, cradling his body into her arms.  
  
Helpless for one of the very few times in his life, Angel gathered enough strength to rest his head on Cordelia's lap. He could hear her heart beat faster from fear, and he also heard her fast in-takes of air. Cordy gently brushed his wet hair with her hand while holding his body close to him.  
  
"I'm so sorry." she whispered in a shaky breath.  
  
She tried to think of a way to keep him awake, so he would fight the drugs that Darla, Spike and Drusilla had given him, and that's when she remembered an incident that had happened a couple of months before. Wesley had been knocked out and fearing he could have a concussion, Fred had told Cordelia that the best thing to do in times like these was to keep the patient awake. To talk to him, to keep his attention long enough. So that's what she attempted to do.  
  
"Angel.stay with me." she breathed, her lips pressed against his ear as she rocked him back and forth.  
  
"C-Cordy." he tried to speak again but she hushed him with that tenderness only [I]he[/I] knew she could convey.  
  
"I'm so sorry about all of this." she confessed as a tear fell from her eyes. "You and Wes, and Fred and Lorne.Gunn.you should never have been involved in this." she breathed out, sensing his body shivering underneath her warm fingers. "Don't you drift off.you stay with me.Angel." she said but he didn't answer. "Angel??" she repeated with a more panicked tone.  
  
"Talk to me." he whispered to her.  
  
Cordelia breathed deeply as he repeated his only wish.  
  
"Just talk to me."  
  
"Gosh, you must be very desperate to beg to hear my voice. I remember a time when it clearly annoyed you." She said, trying as hard as she could to lighten up the atmosphere. She paused and felt him relax a little, as he lied down, his head still resting on her lap. Tears continued to well up in her eyes. "I can't lose you." she finally whispered in an emotional voice that would have broken any man's heart. "I can't lose you Angel." she repeated softly as he closed his eyes.  
  
"You won't." she heard him weakly reply.  
  
"You know." Cordy then said, taking a deep breath and pausing for an instant. "When I was a little girl," she began, thinking back to a memory that had suddenly invaded her thoughts - just like magic. "And that everything went wrong. When.when my parents weren't there, or when things just sucked.I used to lie down on my bed, alone, and close my eyes, and just dream of this place.this place where everything was beautiful and nice and peaceful." she said in a bare murmur, as if soothingly whispering fairy tales into his ear. "Whenever I was sad, or lonely.or scared.I always had that place.in my head. That magical and enchanting place, with trees and mountains and sun.flowers.a place whose beauty transcends time." She kept on going, still running her hand through his hair. "I used to go there 'cause nothing could hurt me there. Nothing could touch me. I was safe." She then said, a tear rolling down her cheek as she kissed his temple. "It was my secret garden. With my hidden treasures.where there was no pain, no doubt.just peace." She continued softly, trying to keep him awake. "Growing up, I lost that place.I guess I lost my way."  
  
Angel swallowed with difficulty as he heard the sadness in her voice.  
  
"I wish I knew the way to that place now." She then admitted softly. "I would take you there.I would take you to that place. But I don't know.Angel." she whispered. "I don't know where it is anymore.I don't know the way to get there.I wish I did.I [I]so[/I] wish I did." she held back a few tears as she spoke. "Because I would go there..with you.and stop this madness."  
  
She felt Angel's weak arms wrap themselves around her knees, holding her legs tight against his bare chest.  
  
"I wish I could take you there." she whispered again, bending down and kissing the side of his face tenderly.  
  
Cordy let her lips linger against his skin for a while, holding on to his body tightly. She kept her arms wrapped around his shoulders and rested her chin against back, nearby his tattoo.  
  
She closed her eyes as they stayed like that, into the night, chained in a cell that held no resemblance to the secret heaven Cordy had just described.  
  
--  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW: The clock is ticking, and Angel and Cordelia find themselves running out of time, for when the skies open up, nothing will ever be the same.  
  
-- 


	11. A Powerful Mind

CHAPTER 11 – A Powerful Mind  
  
When Cordelia opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor by Angel's side, with a hand still resting on his bare back. She twisted her face a little as she carefully retrieved her hand and pulled herself up in a seating position.  
  
Cordy took a long hard look at her surroundings before moving any further. Three tall, rocky walls imprisoned her and Angel, while a ceiling hung at about fifteen feet above their heads. Looking around, she noticed she was still firmly chained to her wall, while Angel was chained to his. The chains had already begun to make her wrists bleed slightly. She rubbed her wrists momentarily, while still inspecting the place.  
  
The fourth wall, to their left, looked more like a prison wall than anything else.  
  
Prison.  
  
That's exactly what this felt like. A cold, echoing prison.  
  
Her eyes then fell back on Angel's semi-naked body and she felt her heart skip a beat. She reached and touched his sleeping form carefully. At the second her fingers brushed his skin, he jerked up, as if woken up from a nightmare.  
  
"Angel…it's me…" Cordy spoke, moving closer to him.  
  
"Cordy…" he let out, trying to remember how he'd gotten there in the first place.  
  
"Are you alright? Does it hurt? Angel, what did they do to you?" the questions kept on coming, as if the fear of not speaking would drive her insane.  
  
She placed her hands on Angel's shoulders as he sat up, cupping her face with his cool hands. He stared into her eyes, silently answering all of her questions. He pushed some messy strands of hair behind her ears, his fingers softly caressing the side of her face, making her heart leap. Cordy lowered her eyes, trying to hide the underlying guilt in them.  
  
"What happened?" Angel asked, his voice a bit stronger than it had been before they'd fallen asleep, but still slightly weak.  
  
Cordy shook her head, still looking down.  
  
"I don't know…" she began and then finally looked up to meet his gaze. "Angel…" she whispered, her fears clearly conveyed in the mention of his name.  
  
"It's okay." He whispered back. "It's going to be okay…"  
  
"No, It's not." She argued, holding her breath for a moment.  
  
Her voice was louder, but Angel knew it was only her way of not breaking down.  
  
"It's not okay. Angel, you're chained to a wall…Gunn, Fred, Wesley and Lorne are dead…it's not okay…It's not!" she said, looking straight into his deep soulful eyes.  
  
"We're going to make this okay…" he tried to reassure her, never breaking eye contact.  
  
That's when Angel noticed the small traces of blood around Cordy's wrists. His eyes hurt from the sight, and he reached to wrap his hands around hers. His fingers slowly and carefully traced the edge of the manacles and Cordelia felt his muscles tense.  
  
"You're hurt…" he stated, his voice slightly breaking.  
  
"I'm fine…" she whispered back, searching his face for some sort of sign that he believed her.  
  
He kept staring down at her bleeding skin.  
  
"Angel…" she said, bringing her hands to his face and lifting it so he would look at her. "Angel look at me…"  
  
Her tone was soft but filled with so much emotion that Angel was unable to keep the stern look on his face. They both shared a long silence, simply staring into one another's eyes. Cordy had seen a lot of things in the past years while observing Angel. She'd seen hate, guilt, despair, love in his eyes before. She had seen the good….and the not so good in him through the intensity of his eyes. She wasn't sure what she was seeing in them right at that moment. Probably a mixture of everything.  
  
Cordy then took a deep breath and bowed her head down, staring at the floor. Angel reached up and cupped her face with his hands, leaning his forehead against hers.  
  
"Cordy…" he began in a bare whisper that made her heart break. "Whatever happens…" he paused, swallowing difficultly. "Promise me you will get to that garden…whatever happens…"  
  
"Stop." She immediately cut him off, looking up to him with tear filled eyes. "Stop it." She said through her teeth.  
  
"Cordy…" he insisted in a weak voice.  
  
"No. Don't talk like that…that's not like you." She let out angrily.  
  
Angel mentally traced every line on her face, imagining it warmth and its beauty against his cool lips. He saw that Cordelia lowered her eyes once again. Angel leaned forward and kissed her forehead with such love and tenderness. She reached up and placed her hands over his, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.  
  
Their silent moment was interrupted by the sharp edge of a woman's voice, coming from the other side of the prison.  
  
"Awww…Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? Whoever said the dead can't be dramatically romantic? Too bad, I'll have to kill you both anyway…"  
  
Cordy and Angel, still kneeling on the floor, looked up and glared at Dennis' mother.  
  
"Shut up." Angel growled at the sight of the woman.  
  
The ghostly demon only smirked, clearly enjoying her sudden burst of amusement within her.  
  
"This is it, Ladies and Gentlemen…The grand finale!" she laughed out loud, throwing her arms in the air.  
  
"If you lay one hand on her…" Angel threatened, but Dennis' mom simply grinned from ear to ear.  
  
"I won't have to…at least not until you are long gone." She happily informed him. She witnessed the fearful glare Cordelia threw at her and she faked her best puppy dog face. "Awww…don't look so frightened. I will let you watch." She added, her evil eyes peering into Cordelia's.  
  
"You're sick. You know that?" Cordelia muttered. "You're sick!" she spitted out, never letting go of Angel's hands.  
  
A simple 'Thank you' was the demon's only response. Cordy felt Angel growl once again, as the two of them stared at Dennis' mom from their side of the dungeon.  
  
"I could easily have killed you already." The woman told a seemingly emotionless Cordelia. "But this is so much more fun…" she then giggled. "See…this way….you'll know what it likes to have the people you love being ripped from your arms…and in your case, turned into ashes."  
  
"What?" Cordy shook her head at the woman's words.  
  
"You took my son…I will take him." She then spitted out.  
  
"Your son?? Dennis???" Cordy exclaimed while a protective Angel squeezed her hand with his left one and touched her face with the other.  
  
"You stole him from me!"  
  
"I Sto…What???! You killed him!" Cordelia couldn't help but yell back.  
  
"Because of girls like you!" Dennis' mother accused of her. "And I will make you pay…" she informed with a determination worthy of any demon.  
  
Cordy shook her head, fiercely trying not to lose her cool. She looked away from her and at Angel for a moment. Then, a strange feeling came over them and they turned towards the back of the room.  
  
There, in the back of the room, trapped into a hole in the wall, lied Dennis' skeleton, a sight that obviously disturbed both Cordy and Angel.  
  
"I will make you watch your cuddly vampire here die….before I kill you." She said, finally revealing her plan. "You see…in two hours, the sun will be up." She continued as a shocked Angel and Cordy turned to her once again. "And well…I'm sure you can figure it out from here…" she smiled.  
  
Angel and Cordy quickly got what the woman was getting at. Angel looked up at the ceiling, and quickly studied its structure, finally realizing it was more like a door than a ceiling. He looked back down only to meet Cordy's fearful glance.  
  
"Angel…I've seen this movie…and it doesn't end well…" Cordy's whisper was shaky and her words trembled in the night.  
  
"And what a great movie that was!" Dennis' mother exclaimed with joy. "Except, well, he's no Brad Pitt…" she added, pointing at Angel, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Hey!" Cordy threw a pissed off glare at the woman.  
  
"Oh, honey…It's true that love is blind, isn't it?"  
  
"Shut up!" Cordy said louder. "And by the way, Brad Pitt is WAYYY overrated!"  
  
"Whatever…"  
  
"Don't 'Whatever' me!"  
  
"Cordy…" angel tried to interject.  
  
"What?" Cordy asked, turning to face Angel.  
  
"Cordy." He said in a firmer tone, trying to stop her.  
  
"What?! I'm defending you!"  
  
Cordy sighed and shook her head at the insisting look in his eyes. She lowered her eyes, not bothering to even glance back at the evil ghost staring at them. Angel, for his part, did turn to her and met her evil glare.  
  
"Well, time's a wasting…" Dennis' mother grinned. "I better go…Sun's almost here. Enjoy yourselves…you don't have much longer…" she wickedly laughed before disappearing into thin air.  
  
Once she was gone, Angel turned his eyes back to a distraught Cordelia.  
  
"We need to get out of here…" he whispered to her.  
  
"No offense…but…DUH!" she said, trying to keep her fears in check.  
  
Angel forcefully tried to yank on his chains a couple of times, while Cordy took a tiny step back. The violent gesture didn't seem to work and when Angel looked up, he met Cordelia's teary eyes.  
  
"Let me try yours…" he said, motioning for her to give him her hands.  
  
"Angel, you're the one who needs to get out of here…" she argued but he stopped her.  
  
"Cordy."  
  
His voice was determined and demanding. She decided that arguing was the last thing she should be doing at this moment, so she tended her arms in front of her while Angel tried to pull on the manacles. He saw Cordy's face twist in pain when the chains would not get off. Tears streamed down her face as the chains cut deeper into her skin, causing some blood to roll down her wrists.  
  
--  
  
A very worried Dennis, pressed a wet cloth against Cordelia's hands and wrists, cleaning the blood from her skin. Sweat covered Cordy's face and neck. Her comatose body had some more bruises than when Emily had left her in the hands of Dennis, and the phantom was beginning to get worried.  
  
Worried about Cordelia.  
  
And worried about Emily.  
  
Wherever the young ghost had gone, he only hoped she was doing the right thing.  
  
God, he hoped she was.  
  
--  
  
"Angel, stop…angel it's not working!" Cordelia said, a bit hysterically while Angel swallowed his tears and kept on trying to free himself and Cordelia.  
  
Cordy yanked her arms away, shaking them with pain, while Angel tried to throw himself forward so that the chains would break from the wall.  
  
"Angel…" Cordy's emotional voice broke through his desperate attempts and he relaxed.  
  
Nothing seemed to be working.  
  
There was no way out.  
  
No escape.  
  
Angel looked up and saw Cordelia crawling back to him with tearful eyes. She gave it one more attempt, trying to pull on her own chains – the ones around her ankles – but in vain. Angel closed the space between them by pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her.  
  
"This is not happening…there has to be a way…" Cordy whispered against Angel's bare shoulders.  
  
"There is." A voice resounded from the back of the dungeon.  
  
Both, Cordy and Angel, turned, a bit stunned, towards the intruder. They stood still for a moment, taking in the presence that was standing before them.  
  
"Dennis…" Angel whispered, on shock.  
  
"Look within Cordy…" a very human Dennis spoke. "This is your head…you can – you CAN – overpower her…just look within…" he said, looking straight at Cordelia.  
  
After a couple seconds of genuine surprise, Cordelia was about to respond to his word, but he took a step back into the hole in the wall and disappeared. His form folded back into the skeleton that lied in the small hole.  
  
Cordy managed to turn back towards Angel and the two of them shared a long silence.  
  
"Angel…" she finally spoke in a choking voice.  
  
"You can do it." He whispered.  
  
"I don't know how." She said with a glimpse of exasperation. "How many ways do I have to say it…look within for what?" she said, sheer panic invading her every words. "Angel…" she then said in a softer tone.  
  
"Cordy…you're stronger than she is…" Angel reminded her. "You need to let go of your fears…just concentrate…" he gently told her while she closed her eyes.  
  
Angel placed his arms on her shoulders and Cordelia tried to concentrate as hard as she could. With her eyes closed, her breathing and heartbeat filled Angel's ears, making him painfully aware of the fear that inhabited her at the moment.  
  
Nothing.  
  
The sound of activity behind the walls startled her and she opened her eyes quickly, grabbing one of Angel's hands.  
  
"Why?" Cordelia muttered through her teeth, her eyes filling with tears… "Why is this happening?!" she breathed out angrily.  
  
"Cordy…"  
  
"No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "Why did you do this?" she asked and then found him staring at her with confusion. "Why did you come in here after me? This is not happening…." She spoke, her heart breaking inside of her. "Why?"  
  
Angel looked into her tearful eyes, hearing more noise coming from the ceiling and behind the walls.  
  
"Why?" he repeated the question in a soft voice. "Because I couldn't lose you…I won't." he whispered to her, cupping her face with his strong hands.  
  
"Angel…" she began but he interrupted her.  
  
"Cordy, promise me…" he began and Cordelia knew exactly what he was going to say. She started to argue, but he didn't let her. "Promise me that whatever happens, you will get to that garden. You will get to that safe place and you will get out of here…Cordy…" his voice was now begging her to promise him at least that.  
  
She didn't have time to answer his plea, for the ceiling began to open up. Neither of them could believe it had already been nearly two hours since Dennis' mother's visit.  
  
"I…" all of a sudden, he realized he was running out of time. Something inside of him snapped and he realized there was so much he didn't have a chance to say to her. "Promise me Cordy…" his tone was filled with despair and Cordelia nodded, silently promising him that she would find the garden. "There's so much I want to say…" he let out in a painful tone.  
  
"This isn't fair…" Cordy said as a tear rolled down her face. "You can't die…" she whispered as the ceiling stopped moving, only opened of about an inch.  
  
His hand caressed the side of her face tenderly and his eyes bore into hers. He rarely cried. He rarely even got teary. But in this instant, looking into her devoted face, his eyes began to fill with tears.  
  
"I have never known anyone like you…" he whispered, aware that he had spoken these words before, but also aware that it added to its meaning. "Cordy…" his voice trembled momentarily, and he paused to swallow back his tears. "This…look at me…Cordy look at me." He softly said, lifting her chin to that she was looking back into his tearful eyes. "This isn't your fault…And if I had to do it all over again, I would…I would…" he said and then paused for a few seconds. "Because I love you. I want you to know that." He said in a bare shaky whisper as the ceiling began to open up again, letting a few rays of sunshine into the back of the dungeon.  
  
Angel pressed his lips against hers, desperately and lovingly tasting her. He felt her kiss him back with the same sadness and despair he was showing her. Her hands came up on the side of his face as well, and she felt a tear roll down on her thumb.  
  
The kiss was long, breathless, and emotionally draining, as if neither wanted to ever let go. Cordy lifted her lips from his, tears now flowing, long enough to mouth a slightly silent "I love you" back. She then pressed her lips against his once more, this time wishing she could step outside her own body and photograph this instant with her mind. After a few seconds, she abruptly pulled away from him.  
  
"This isn't happening! I don't finally get a guy to put up with me long enough to actually say that he loves me, just so we can both die!" she said, her voice on the verge of breaking.  
  
Ignoring the outburst of emotion in her voice, she barely glanced at the ceiling – long enough to notice it was about half-way opened – and then grabbed Angel's wrists and frantically tried to free him again. She and Angel were now standing in the small half of the room that still bathed in darkness, away from the sunshine…but time was running out. She knew it.  
  
She and Angel gave it a last desperate try, but nothing worked this time around either.  
  
They both locked eyes and stood still for a second. More emotions were conveyed in that second than in any conversation they'd ever had. Angel grabbed her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her so tightly he knew he was crushing her.  
  
She didn't care.  
  
She didn't even notice.  
  
Nothing else seemed relevant at the time. Just holding him, which she did with every fiber of her being. With her arms tightly wrapped around Angel's neck, she closed her eyes.  
  
[I]"Look within…"[/I] she heard Emily and Dennis' voices in her head again.  
  
She placed every ounce of energy she had left into concentrating.  
  
The ceiling was almost all opened now and the sunshine filled the room, almost reaching the spot where Angel and Cordy kneeled, in each other's arms.  
  
Cordy buried her face in Angel's shoulder, eyes still closed, and the more she held onto him, the more her surroundings seemed to be affected.  
  
The walls began to shake violently, while Angel kept a firm hold of the woman he loved.  
  
Whether it was the power of her will, or just sheer coincidence, the walls suddenly began to crumble on them and soon enough, the entire dungeon was being shattered and destroyed. The chains tying them to the walls broke and the fell backwards. Angel covered Cordelia's body with his, to protect her from the debris falling down on them.  
  
Then, silence.  
  
Frightening silence.  
  
When Cordy opened her eyes, she could barely see through the dark. That's when she felt Angel's body pressed against hers…moving close to her. The debris that had fallen down on them had miraculously shielded them from the sun.  
  
"Angel…" she said, feeling his hand on her waist.  
  
"We need to get out of here…" he told her, helping her up to her feet and leading her into a hallway.  
  
The were rushing when they heard a loud noise and some voices behind them. They looked around, but there seemed to be no escape this time around.  
  
"Where's a door when you really need one?!" Cordelia muttered to herself angrily.  
  
Just as the words left her mouth, a large door appeared beside them. Angel looked at Cordelia, who simply raised an eyebrow in response. The two of them looked over their shoulders and saw a handful of giant spider-like demons, and without hesitation, the opened the door and disappeared behind it, locking it behind them.  
  
Once inside, the peaceful atmosphere was so powerful that they both stood still. It was a large bedroom, filled with furniture and teddy bears….obviously a child's bedroom. Their surprise and confusion was broken by the loud pounding on the door, but only Angel seemed to be distressed.  
  
"They can't get in." Cordelia finally spoke, staying close to Angel.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
Cordy looked around the room and then back at a hurt Angel.  
  
"I…I just do…they can't get in here…" she said, not really knowing how she knew that, but she did. "Oh my God….Angel…you're bleeding…" she said rushing to him and touching the cut on his cheek.  
  
As soon as her fingers touched the blood, she froze. Realization dawned upon her.  
  
"Oh my god…" she whispered. "You are bleeding…" she repeated in a much softer tone. "Why are you bleeding?" she asked, her eyes deeply searching his. Her fingers softly became comfortable against his warm skin and her mouth dropped open. "…and you're warm…" her tone was tender yet disbelieving.  
  
That's when it hit him…the pounding on the door fell into the back of his mind as the loud sound of his own heartbeat rang into his ears. Angel froze, suddenly realizing that he was breathing.  
  
Vampires don't breathe, he reminded himself mentally.  
  
Then again, vampires don't have a heartbeat.  
  
Cordy looked genuinely surprised and swallowed difficultly.  
  
"Oh God…you're…" she began in a bare whisper.  
  
"I'm…" he echoed her stunned expression.  
  
I'm human…" he finally breathed out as they both stared at one another, stunned. 


	12. Breathless

CHAPTER 12 – BREATHLESS  
  
It began like thunder in his ears, slowly turning into a hammering that forced his breathing to accelerate. Each beat, each in-take of air stunned him. Shocked him. Froze him right down to his core, all the while warming up all his senses. He felt his back unintentionally hit the door behind him, silently thanking God there was something there to stop him from stumbling down in awe.  
  
The feel of her fingers on the side of his cheek brought him back from the loud miracle that sang in his ears.  
  
Angel lifted his eyes up to Cordy's, his speechless lips unsuccessfully trying to mouth a coherent word. The sparkle in her eyes made his newfound beating heart tremble right away. Was she crying? Was she confused? Was she as stunned as he was? As he stared deeply into her big hazel eyes, he wasn't exactly sure of what he was seeing, until she whispered his name tenderly.  
  
"Angel…"  
  
He felt her hand move away from him and as if sprung out of his own little world, he stepped back into reality. In a quick movement, he grabbed his chest, making sure he wasn't dreaming, his eyes going back and forth between a silent Cordelia and his heaving chest.  
  
"How? Why? Oh God…how??" he repeated in a maze of confusion, astonishment and hesitant happiness.  
  
His inquiries stopped, though, when his eyes looked back up to Cordy's, who seemed to almost smile to herself.  
  
"You're human…" the words left her mouth in a barely audible murmur.  
  
"How can this be…?" Angel breathed out, still clearly trying to recover from the initial shock. "I'm…" he seemingly still had a hard time believing it, and even more so saying it out loud. "How?" He repeated again, staring back into Cordelia's thoughtful face.  
  
"Me." Was her only answer, which took a few seconds to ponder.  
  
Angel searched her face for a more detailed answer but all he found was the tiny smile hiding in the corner of her lips as she touched the blood on his face once again. She saw the questioning expression that quickly took possession of his left brow and took a deep breath.  
  
"It all makes sense now…" she said to herself, standing a couple of inches away from him. "Emily…and Dennis…and now you…"  
  
"Cordy?" Angel said, trying to get her attention as she rambled to herself.  
  
"Angel, you're human because I thought it." She said, the realization of the situation dawning upon her. "Because I wished it. Think about it." She offered, taking his warm hands into hers.  
  
For the first time in his undead life, Cordelia's hands felt cool against his. Distracted by the feeling at first, he then looked back up to her face and listened.  
  
"Emily was alive. Dennis was human…Emily said that I made her human because that's how I remember her. So in my head, she's alive…And Dennis…he's like family…Sometimes I even forget that he's invisible. That he's not real…" she said in a gentle tone.  
  
She took a long pause as they gazed at one another, understandingly.  
  
"But back there…I wasn't…" Angel began and then took a deep shaky breath.  
  
"I was so trying not to lose you…in that dungeon, I was so trying to let you die…that I must have wished for you to live." She finally confessed, unable to hide the smile that spread across her lips. "I mean, all of this…the visions, the pain, the demons…I can live with that everyday…because somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that someday it will make you shanshu, and be human…" she whispered, squeezing his hands.  
  
"So we must be in the back of your mind then…" Angel couldn't help but return her tender smile.  
  
"We must be…" Cordelia grinned and looked down at his hands.  
  
The look in her eyes suddenly grew dark and drained of all the joy he had seen in them a few seconds before. Panic overtook his being and he searched her face until she looked at him again.  
  
"What is it?" he asked, concern growing into his voice.  
  
Cordy hesitated and then shook her head, eyeing the cut on his face once more. She pulled away from him and grabbed a piece of clothing that lied on one of the chairs beside her. She didn't look at what it was – a small girly t-shirt with the pink inscription 'mommy and daddy's girl' on it' – and she ripped it in pieces before bringing it to Angel's wound gently.  
  
"Nothing." She answered, shaking the thoughts out of her head. "Hold still." She then added, cleaning up his cut.  
  
Even though they both tried to stay calm, the never ceasing loud banging on the door made the atmosphere go from rushed to even more rushed. Cordelia didn't flinch, although her jaw clenched and her fingers shook every time one of the spider-like beasts threw itself on the door. Angel, breathing heavily for reasons unknown to him at the moment, finally couldn't take it anymore. He jerked his head around a little and muttered under his breath.  
  
"This is distracting…Are you sure they can't come in?"  
  
Cordy didn't answer, she just fixed the door intensely, her eyes narrowing on the handle, the particular energy that emanated from her scaring Angel for a second, until the door completely disappeared.  
  
"No, they can't." she breathed out, as Angel turned back to face her.  
  
How she had done that, he didn't know, and something told him maybe she didn't know either. Amazed. That's how he felt. As he looked at her, his eyes shone with pride and hope, and if she looked closely enough to notice it, then he was glad.  
  
"I told you you could do it…" he whispered to her lovingly.  
  
"Angel…" she began, avoiding his eyes for a moment. "I haven't done 'it'. We're still here…so, yeah, we're okay and safe here for now, but I still don't know the way out."  
  
"The Garden…" he mentioned as he took a step forward, getting closer to her. "Do you remember your way there…?" he asked and she shook her head, a sad look on her face. "I mean you just saved both of our lives…you're taking back control…"  
  
"Oh – so what, I can make a door appear and disappear and make walls crumble down, but that doesn't mean I'm in control. I still don't know the way to the garden, or the way out of here…or if they are both the same thing." She said in a low voice. "Angel, I don't even know how I did that just now. I mean, yeah, I provoked an earthquake but I don't know how I did that, or why I even could." She took a deep breath and tilted her head slightly. "I made you human – which if you ask me is not something that I regret or that I'm sorry for but it just proves that I don't know how I make these things happen…I still don't know how I did that. I just did. I'm not in control. If it happens, it happens, but until then, I don't know how to make these things happen. Not yet." She confessed, her fears apparent in her voice.  
  
Angel walked towards her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and holding her close. Cordy closed her eyes and breathed in the warmth of his skin – something she'd dreamed about for so long but never actually let herself believe it would ever be possible.  
  
As she pulled away, she let one of her hands slide down his chest until the pounding of his heart came loud against her palm. She sucked in a breath, letting her hand rest there, motionless. Angel looked down at the delicate posture of her fingers against his beating heart and both stood still for what seemed like forever. She could feel every thump that came from underneath his shirt and she had to remind herself how to breathe at one point.  
  
Angel covered her hand with his softly and looked into her beautiful eyes, mesmerized by just how many tingling emotions swam in them. After a moment, she lifted her hand and let a tiny smile cross her lips.  
  
"I just…I'm sorry…" she said, releasing a waiting breath. "I just…I can't…"  
  
"…believe it?" he whispered, finishing her sentence."  
  
"I can believe it." She said with a faint nod. "I just needed to make sure it was real."  
  
She swallowed back and then took a few step backwards. That's when their surroundings finally became apparent to them. Angel looked across the room, finding a large bed, a desk and a chair, with pictures stuck to the mirror with a certain delicacy that children usually didn't have. He saw a couple of teddy bears and dolls in one of the corners, some piece of clothing on the back of a chair, which could have only been those of a little girl. He moved towards the wall and saw a couple of frames on the wall, most of them were of people he'd never seen in his life but others appeared more familiar. He let his fingers trace the side of the little girl's face on one of those pictures, admiring the wide and bright smile on her face.  
  
"That picture always made me want to gag." Cordy said from across the room, as Angel turned to face her.  
  
"Why? I think you were cute on it." He replied softly.  
  
"How did you know it was me?" she asked, taking a few steps towards him.  
  
"Must have been the smile, though, I find it a lot more genuine now." His voice was filled with honesty and he managed a tiny little smile for her.  
  
That's when he saw the change in her eyes again. From happy to sudden sadness. He wasn't sure what brought the change, but he knew it was something she wasn't sharing, something that was troubling her.  
  
"Cordy, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing…" she tried to dismiss his concern, but it didn't work.  
  
"Cordy, you said the same thing a few minutes ago, but I know you. What's wrong?" he whispered, placing a hand on the side of her face.  
  
She seemed to hesitate for a moment and then opened her mouth to speak.  
  
"What happens once we get out of here?" she asked, her voice shaking a little as she and Angel sat down on the edge of the bed.  
  
Angel looked at her, not sure what kind of answer she wanted him to give her.  
  
"I mean…" she began and he saw the small tears welling up in the back of her eyes. "Do I even want to get out of here?" she asked, shocking him with her words.  
  
"What?" he immediately let out without thinking. "What are you…you don't mean that." He firmly argued.  
  
"Really? I mean, we don't know what's happening Angel…what if…" she struggled to finish her thought. "What if….they're really dead." She whispered, clearly referring to Wesley, Fred, Gunn and Lorne. "What if I get out of here and they don't…what if you don't?" she then said a small tear rolling down her face. "I would have to live with the knowledge that I killed them….even if it wasn't really me. I'd have to live with that."  
  
"Cordy…" Angel said, holding her shoulders and looking straight into her tearful eyes.  
  
"I mean, would you even want to go back to that?" her words stung like a needle stuck in his heart. Would he? "What if something had happened to you in that dungeon…" she breathed out and Angel cupped her face lovingly.  
  
"But nothing did…you saved me." He whispered to her in a trembling tone.  
  
"But what if I can't save myself?"  
  
Her words hung in the air for the longest time, unable and unwilling to come back down.  
  
"Angel…I want to go back…I want to wake up…but…" she tried to say coherently. "There's a part of me that is scared to." She paused, looking into his eyes and feeling the warmth of his hands on her face. "Scared that it may all be at the expense of my friends…scared that I may never have this…" she whispered, her tears now gone.  
  
"This…" Angel repeated, taking a deep breath.  
  
"Scared that I may never feel your heart beat against mine again…" she said in a bare whisper, their faces now inches apart from one another.  
  
Angel silently thanked God that he had mastered the ability of breathing again so fast because his heart was now beating faster and faster. His eyes bore into Cordy's, his silent reply piercing through her heart, and his strong hands gently tracing the lines on the side of her face. Angel lowered his face to hers and pressed his lips against hers in a long, intense, breathless kiss. Cordy felt herself sigh into the kiss, almost relieved to finally feel him against her. So close. So real.  
  
As his tongue delved into her mouth, dancing with hers to the sound of a music only they could hear, the kiss intensified. One of Angel's hands made its way down her arm, then around her waist, to finally rest in the small of her back. She raised herself up a little, wrapping both of her arms around his shoulders, and falling into their kisses with blind trust. She felt his warm hands slide under her dirty t-shirt and caress the skin around her waist, and that's they finally had to pull apart, to take a much- needed breath.  
  
Their eyes locked. Their hearts pounded. Their hands stilled.  
  
In that instant, there was no doubt, no fear, nothing holding them back.  
  
There was no danger, no prison of the mind, no curse. There was no past and no tomorrow. It was only them, staring at one another, in the present.  
  
Two people, very much alive. Two souls.  
  
Two hearts beating as one.  
  
"Angel…" Cordelia whispered in a breathless attempt to make sure he was certain about where this was going. "Are you sure…?"  
  
He looked into her loving eyes and stayed silent. Instead, he gently took one of her hands and placed it across his chest, holding it there preciously. Once again, she felt the livelihood of his heartbeat.  
  
"More than I've ever been in my life…" his words trailed off as he slowly brought his face to hers again.  
  
This time, the kiss wasn't as quick and desperate. It was calculated, sensual even. His mouth came with hers in a slow feverish waltz, her tongue meeting his with no hesitation. They carefully moved and kneeled on the bed, their lips never parting.  
  
Cordelia brought both of her hands up on his chest and made her way up until she found the first button of his shirt. Their mouths parted for a few seconds. She bit her lower lip while he tried to catch his breath and she smiled at the obviousness that he wasn't used to breathing just yet. She then proceeded in beginning to unbutton his shirt, as he took her mouth with his once again, unable to stop himself. The passion, desire and heat of that kiss was enough to bring a moan out of Cordelia's throat. After unbuttoning the last of the buttons, she ran her hands up on his chest, feeling all the ups and downs of his muscles beneath her fingers, and she pushed the unnecessary piece of clothing off his shoulders.  
  
Angel's lips lifted from hers and made their way down her neck, his tongue tracing a line of fire on her skin. His hands moved underneath her t-shirt and wrapped around her waist, his thumbs tracing circles on her stomach, sending shivers down her spine. Angel touched, kissed, tasted every inch of her neck before moving up to her ear. Cordelia closed her eyes, enjoying every second of it.  
  
She then brought his head up and captured his mouth with hers in one long, uninterrupted kiss that left them more than just a little out of breath. Wanting to feel her, touch her…every part of her…Angel lifted her t-shirt up over her head and quickly dismissed it on the floor beside the bed.  
  
Their bodies pressed together, their hearts racing together, Angel laid Cordelia down on the bed. He felt a rush of disappointment when she suddenly took her tongue and lips from his mouth.  
  
"Oww!" was the only sound that escaped her throat.  
  
Angel quickly lifted his head, concern overtaking every fiber of his being.  
  
"No, not OW ow…just ow…" she frowned reaching underneath her and pulling out a large teddy bear that she had just crushed.  
  
It took him a few seconds to register the huge grin that came across her lips and the mischievous sparkle in her eyes.  
  
"Don't scare me like that…" he smiled back, clearly relieved.  
  
He took the teddy bear out of her hands and tossed it across the room, before lowering himself down again. She was about to speak but almost lost control of her own thoughts when she felt his gentle lips and tongue moving across her stomach.  
  
"Hey, you hurt Tim." She giggled, his kisses tickling her a little.  
  
"Tim?" Angel managed to ask as his lips moved upward.  
  
She mumbled a little "hmmm" as a reply and he continued his way up. His hands slid on the side of her body and his mouth came to a halt when he reached that spot under her chin. He then looked up, boyish eyes looking into hers.  
  
"You named your stuffed animals?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows.  
  
"Shut up and kiss me…" she giggled, pulling his face down to hers as their lips joined one more time in the heat of passion.  
  
The two of them laughed into the kiss a little before the whole incident with "Tim" completely vanished from their minds.  
  
She could feel the weight of his body on top of hers and all she wanted was to feel him even closer. She was slightly surprised at how fast he got rid of her bra. One thing was certain, human or not, he still knew how to touch her. Memories of their single night together, which now seemed like a long time ago, filled her mind as she met the sensuality of his kisses repeatedly.  
  
Her hands moved down his chest, ever so slowly, and reached the edge of his pants. At first, only teasing, only tempting, only sliding the tip of her around his waist.  
  
In less time than it took for either of them to notice, the remaining of their clothes were gone and they had slid under the sheets, bodies pressed against one another, lips never wanting to part, not even for air, and a passion that seemed unable and unwilling to fade.  
  
There, away from the threats, and the worries, two hearts danced into the night. A night they knew could never be reproduced…not before long. So they simply lost themselves into it, into one another. And they made love, they danced.  
  
A passionate dance.  
  
A secret dance.  
  
A breathless dance.  
  
--  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW: Angel is human, and with that comes everything else humans feel.  
  
-- 


	13. Secret Garden

Chapter 13 – Secret Garden  
  
One single small light lit the room from the nightstand, while a slightly opened window caused the soft curtains to dance into the night. The bedroom, filled with childhood mementos of Cordelia's life, served as a backdrop for one of the longest silence she had ever experienced.  
  
Lying each on their side, facing one another, in the middle of the large bed, Cordy and Angel silently admired the lines on each other's faces. His fingers moved along the side of her face, then trailed down her bare arm before nestling in the comfort of her palm. Slowly, softly, and with a care that spoke louder than words, Cordy took his hand into his and intertwined her fingers with his. His eyes rested on their joined hands for a long time, a peaceful expression covering both their faces.  
  
So close.  
  
In that instant, they were so close. Closer than Cordelia had ever felt to anyone in her life. After what seemed like an eternity of just staring and touching…admiring, a slight smile crossed her lips and she examined their hands.  
  
She looked back up to his eyes and caught her breath for a moment. Such deep, soulful eyes in which she easily could get lost.  
  
"Hi…" she whispered.  
  
"Hi…" he whispered back in that same loving, private murmur.  
  
"Your hands are warm." She whispered, awe and comfort taking over her every word.  
  
Angel squeezed her hand, smiling with her for a moment. His hands were warm indeed.  
  
"Funny…" he whispered back, catching Cordelia's loving glance fall back onto his face.  
  
"What it?" she asked, so softly he barely heard her.  
  
"I was just about to say the same thing about you." He smiled, wrapping his hand around her waist and pulling her closer to him.  
  
Cordelia repressed a little laugh as their lips met in a long, slow amorous kiss. Cordy's hands traveled up his bare shoulders and entangled themselves in his disheveled hair. The soft sheets wrapping their bodies perfectly, the peaceful atmosphere of the room bathing them with calmness, they continued kissing until Cordy heard a small noise. She pulled away from the kiss with a small giggle and frowned as she stared into Angel's eyes.  
  
"Was that your stomach?" she asked, clearly amused at the simple thought of it.  
  
"I guess the no-food diet has caught up with me…"  
  
"The pleasures of being human, Angel." Cordy smiled from ear to ear.  
  
"Pleasures huh…" Angel repeated, lowering his lips to Cordelia's jawbone and trailing kisses down her neck. "I can think of more pleasurable pleasures than eating…" h e managed between kisses.  
  
"Oh I'm sure you can." Cordy smiled as he brought his lips back to hers in an amused yet passionate kiss.  
  
When she heard Angel's stomach again, she couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Okay, we really need to feed you first or this is going to be very distracting." She laughed, pulling away from his grinning lips and wrapping herself with one of the sheets.  
  
"Feed me?" Angel questioned, rolling on his back while he watched her sit up. "And what do you intend to feed me?" he said as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow and an amused grin her on her. "I didn't notice any cafeteria around here…"  
  
"Yes, well…a girl has her resources." Cordy grinned and lowered herself down on the side of the bed, looking under the bed for something. "There we go…" she called out while Angel sat up in bed, leaning his back against the wall and watching her expectantly.  
  
"What resources?" Angel laughed, watching her struggle with some stuff under the bed.  
  
"Resources. Just resources. You know…" she stuck her head up long enough to shoot him one of her million dollar smiles. "I'm a chocoholic, okay." She said coming back in bed with a large box of chocolates.  
  
She laughed at the sight of Angel's incredulous facial expression and sat across from him.  
  
"When I was little, I used to hide chocolate boxes under my bed because my mother wouldn't allow me to eat any. She was overly concerned with her daughter gaining weight." Cordy rolled her eyes at the memory. "Let's just say my grandmother had other opinions on that. It was our secret." She smiled, opening the box.  
  
She noticed Angel eyeing the chocolate like a kid who hadn't eaten for weeks. The thought actually amused her. She shot him a funny stare and paused and held the box away from Angel, teasingly.  
  
"But you know, if you'd prefer not…" she began but stopped when he grabbed her and pulled her to him. She tried to hold back a bit of laughter as he smiled.  
  
"Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've eaten any kind of normal food…? Are you trying to kill me with the teasing?" he said, his arms wrapped around her.  
  
"I didn't see you complaining about any form of teasing an hour ago…" she said in a lower voice as his face broke into a smile.  
  
"Yes well…" he said as his voice trailed off.  
  
She felt his hands trace circles through the sheets on her lower back and tilted her head slightly.  
  
"I'll give you some if you promise to behave." She said and at his raised eyebrows, Cordy felt the need to rectify her answer. "Some chocolate, I mean…" she smiled, a smile that matched Angel's mischievous grin.  
  
She sat back into Angel's warm embrace, feeling his heart pound against her shoulder, and she proceeded to open the box of chocolate once more. She took one piece of chocolate out and turned around just enough so she could hand it to him. The look on his face as he ate the piece of brown chocolate was priceless, and almost amusing. It was as if he hadn't tasted anything like it in his life. It was actually like experiencing life for the first time ever.  
  
For a moment there, the whole world around them disappeared and allowed them to enjoy this moment. The threats and the danger and the situation in which they found themselves seemed irrelevant. The look on Angel's face while re-discovering the pleasures of eating – among others – was enough to silence any fear at the moment. Cordelia leaned back into his arm.  
  
"I had forgotten how nice this was…" Angel delightfully said, taking a deep breath.  
  
"I know. All that chocolaty goodness…"  
  
"I wasn't talking about the chocolate." His voice came out soft and tender as his arms tightened around her body.  
  
She turned her head slightly enough so she could look at him in the eyes and smiled.  
  
"I know." She simply answered, knowing perfectly well that he wasn't referring only to the eating part of this moment.  
  
They stayed like that for a moment, silently, just enjoying the comfort of each other's arms. They knew that at some point they would have to leave this. They would have to go back to reality, or at least try to find a way back, but in that instant, they didn't care. They knew that Angel's humanity would not last forever, but if this were all they'd ever have, then they'd make the best of it.  
  
As they sat there, her back leaning against his strong chest, she felt his lips softly kiss her shoulder, and then her neck.  
  
"You know…" she found herself saying as his tongue traced invisible lines on her skin. "If you weren't so human right now I'd ask you to drop the neck fetish, but since I don't have to worry about that, please do go on." She smiled and heard a little amused chuckled coming from Angel's throat.  
  
Did Angel even chuckle? The thought quickly left her brain as she turned her head around and met his lips. The kiss was not as demanding as some of their previous ones. It was long, slow, but very intense. Cordelia turned in his embrace and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, still enjoying the feel of his mouth on hers.  
  
When they broke the kiss, Angel grabbed one of her hands gently and brought it to his lips, kissing the tip of each fingers softly.  
  
"You know…" he breathed deeply as he looked at their surroundings. "You had a really big bed for a 12-year-old." He said, nonchalantly.  
  
Cordy couldn't help the tiny laugh that escaped her throat.  
  
"A girl has needs." She offered with a grin.  
  
They exchanged a teasing look before Cordelia spoke again.  
  
"You're enjoying the whole human thing aren't you?" she then grinned.  
  
"Well…" Angel coyly replied, nibbling on her ear. "If I remember correctly, I wasn't the only one enjoying it a few hours ago…" he added, now kissing her bare shoulders.  
  
"You know, I wonder what my mother would think barging in here and finding a semi-naked man in her 12-year-old daughter's bed. I can hear her now, 'Cordelia Chase, what have I told you about bringing boys up to your room?!'" Cordy smiled, doing a perfect imitation of her mother's innocent voice.  
  
"Cordy…" Angel then pointed out, as always, stuck on something irrelevant in her speech. "I'm not semi-naked." He said emphasizing the semi part.  
  
Cordy faked looking under the sheets and smiled.  
  
"What my mother doesn't see, she shouldn't know." She offered in her typical Cordy voice, which made Angel smile.  
  
At that moment, time stood still in Angel's head. His eyes bore into Cordy's and he prayed that he would take that image with him until the day he died. There was something so calming in the way she was looking at him, so loving. So real.  
  
In that instant, the worries started to crawl back into his head. At the moment Cordelia mentioned someone barging in, the fears began to make their presence known again. The fear of losing her. The fear of not being human anymore…of not having this. Here. Now. The fear of everything that came along with it.  
  
The fear of them never being able to go back to what their lives were before…with their friends…with each other.  
  
Cordelia saw the somber expression in Angel's eyes and she knew that the fears were starting to crawl back into her head too.  
  
"Cordy…" Angel whispered, brushing her hair with one hand.  
  
"Angel, don't." she said softly.  
  
They both paused, as Cordelia's pleading voice silenced Angel's running thought. What he was about to say would have ruined this moment. It would have fully brought back everything neither of them wanted to deal with at the moment.  
  
"I really do love you…" Cordy found herself whispering in a heartbreaking tone as she leaned in and pressed her lips against Angel's in a soft but emotional kiss.  
  
The stopped long enough to catch their breaths and Angel rested his forehead against hers.  
  
"I love you too." He whispered as their mouths met once again in a more heated kiss.  
  
Their tongues danced with each other as the kiss intensified. Slowly, Angel laid her back down onto the bed, their lips never parting, for fear of letting in any more doubts or fears. All they needed or wanted in that instant was each other.  
  
Nothing more.  
  
Nothing less.  
  
--  
  
A large troupe of demons barged into the main room, where the evil woman stood, staring at the wall.  
  
"Did you find her?" she demanded in a harsh tone.  
  
"No my lady." One of the demons answered, nearly shaking.  
  
"Did she find her way in?"  
  
"No. She's still in this realm somewhere. We can still feel her. She's not in the Garden yet." The demon answered.  
  
There was a long pause before Dennis' mother turned around and met their eyes.  
  
"Find her, and bring her back here, do you hear me!" she ordered them. "Alive." She then demanded.  
  
"But…my lady…she has begun to control herself…" one of the demons interjected but she stopped him with her dry voice.  
  
"Not her. Bring me the young one." She then said, an evil glare in her eyes as if she suddenly had a new plan.  
  
--  
  
The early morning sun peaked its head through the large bedroom windows, illuminating most of the room with its warmth and brilliance. Clothes, still lying by the side of the bed, served as a reminder of the magical night the two sleeping form on the bed had just shared.  
  
Lightly wrapped around the sheets, Cordelia laid, eyes closed on her right side, with Angel's arms around her from behind. Both sound asleep in the comfort of one another's arms.  
  
Angel was the first one to be awakened by the soft rays of sunshine that reached him from across the room. His eyes flickered open and rested on the sleeping beauty safely nestled in his arms. He breathed in the sight of Cordelia's beauty, mentally trying to photograph her with his mind.  
  
As his eyes quietly stared at the windows and the morning light, a much somber thought invaded his mind.  
  
This.  
  
This would never be reproduced in reality. This was the one chance he and Cordelia had had to be together, to share their love in a way that wasn't allowed in their every day reality. Watching her sleep brought back insecurities he didn't want to be thinking about. He wanted to enjoy this moment without any doubts, without any fears. But he couldn't. As much as he cherished this moment, having Cordy in his arms like that, he couldn't help but think that she deserved more.  
  
Breaking into his thoughts and slowly chasing them away for a few minutes, Cordy stirred and opened her eyes. She turned her head slightly enough to meet his eyes and realized he'd been watching her sleep.  
  
"What are you thinking about?" she whispered in a sleepy voice.  
  
"How beautiful you are." He smiled and kissed her bare shoulder lightly.  
  
Cordy let her eyes drift to the windows and then back to Angel, who was lost in his own thoughts. Sensing that something was troubling him, she turned into his embrace and faced him.  
  
"I'm not complaining about the complimenting, but what are you really thinking about?" she asked, her voice sounding more concerned this time around.  
  
"You." He answered simply and honestly. "Cordy…" his voice was now filled with worry and concern and she sensed it.  
  
"Angel…don't." she said, shaking her head, but he couldn't keep it to himself any longer.  
  
"Cordelia we need to talk about this." Angel said, releasing her and sitting up on the side of the bed.  
  
"Angel…what is it?" she asked, sitting up beside him, leaning against his arm and running a hand through her hair.  
  
"This." Angel repeated, unable to look her in the eye. "We can't have this in real life. We can't be like that…" he said, his voice nearly breaking under his words.  
  
"Okay…" Cordelia nodded, straightening herself, realizing just exactly where Angel was going with this. "We are not going to have this conversation." She said, determined.  
  
"Cordy…"  
  
"No." she softly replied. "Is this the normal life talk? Is this the 'I'm not worthy of you' talk? 'Cause if it is, we're not having it." She said, still holding his arm tenderly. "Angel…" she paused and waited until he looked at her. "I know what we can and can't have…I know that…" she whispered, somewhat trying to read his face.  
  
Angel looked at her, knowing how badly she meant it, but he couldn't help feeling as if he was robbing her of any kind of normal life.  
  
"Cordy…" he began again and this time she let him speak. "Last night…being human…being with you…" he tried to make his thought coherent but they seemed to just bump into one another repetitively. "It was…"  
  
There was a short pause and Cordelia noticed how he couldn't find the right word to describe what he was feeling. Never much of the talkative type, he was.  
  
"…Perfect?" she offered as an answer and after little pondering, he nodded.  
  
"Perfect." He repeated, staring into her bright and shining eyes. "We can't have that once we get out of here…" he then somberly spoke, regretting the words as they came out.  
  
"I can live with that."  
  
"You shouldn't."  
  
"Well let me be the judge of that." She said.  
  
There was a long silence between them as they both sat on the side of the bed, staring off into space, thinking. Thinking. Then Cordelia turned to face him again and spoke with such softness that Angel's heart skipped a beat.  
  
"Angel," she began, taking a deep breath. "I know this is going to sound very unconvincing – what with me being so undressed and after last night – but…" she said, looking down at herself as if knowing her words were going to contradict the situation in which they found themselves. "Sex isn't the be all and end all of a relationship." She offered in all honesty.  
  
Angel looked at her, silently.  
  
"I mean, don't get me wrong, it's something I welcome with open arms as far as you're concerned…" she smiled shyly at first and then continued. "But that's not what I care about the most."  
  
"Cordelia…"  
  
"I mean it." She said emphasizing each and every word. "I know you left Buffy to give her a normal life…well…look around Angel." Cordy motioned with her hands, raising an eyebrow. "I don't have a normal life, whether I'm with you or not. We just spent the most incredible night together, inside my head after nearly dying a dozen of times. I think that qualifies as 'not normal' by any definition."  
  
"I don't want you to wake up one morning and realize what you're missing out on…" he genuinely said with concern.  
  
"Angel…" she said in a bare whisper, placing one of her hands on the side of his warm cheek. "I meant what I told you last night."  
  
Angel took a deep breath at the touch of her fingers, before being able to form any coherent words.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, clearly trying to remember what she had told him before.  
  
Cordy took his hand into hers and gently held it with both of her hands.  
  
"I really do love you…with or without a heartbeat…" she whispered as tears welled up in her eyes involuntarily.  
  
She saw the tears in Angel's eyes as well as he leaned in and kissed her softly. When their lips parted, Angel rested his forehead against hers, unwilling to open their eyes.  
  
"This is real, right?" she asked her, taking a deep breath. "Promise me we'll remember everything once we get out of here? Promise me this isn't just a dream…" she whispered, her breath to close to his skin it sent chills down his spine.  
  
Cordelia knew that she would probably remember all of this since it was inside of her own head, but her fear was that Angel wouldn't. Once they got out, if they ever got out, she wanted him to remember.  
  
"Promise me you won't forget…Promise me you'll remember me this way…you'll remember this right now…" she whispered and Angel kissed her one more time.  
  
"I promise…" he whispered back in between kisses.  
  
A tear rolled down Cordelia's face as their lips met in a long, emotional kiss that lasted for several minutes. As they were kissing, Cordy's hand moved to Angel's bare chest and rested on the safe sound of his heartbeat for a while, marveling in the feel of its pounding against her palm.  
  
Yes, whatever happened, she would be fine. They would be fine. And one day…maybe not now, but one day…she'd feel that heartbeat again. And they would have this.  
  
They would.  
  
Suddenly, as if struck by lightening, Cordelia pulled away from him. Angel looked at her in confusion as she stared at him, eyes wide open, as if something had just hit her over the head.  
  
"Oh my God…" she whispered, almost to herself.  
  
That was it. In one small second, she remembered. It was more like an instinct, a feeling…a force inside of her.  
  
She just knew.  
  
Right there, right then.  
  
She knew.  
  
"What? What is it?" Angel asked her, genuine concern filling his voice as he watched her sit still, frozen.  
  
"Get dressed." She then offered, handing him his shirt.  
  
"What? What's going on?" he was now honestly confused by her behavior.  
  
"There's something I need to show you…" she smiled, reaching onto the floor and grabbing her t-shirt. "Come on…"  
  
The bright smile on her face was enough to calm him down and reassure him. They both got dressed and he followed her to the window. He watched as she opened the window and stepped out of it, pulling him out with him. As they stepped outside the room, into the bright sunlight, a huge blinding white light appeared, forcing them both to close their eyes.  
  
When Angel re-opened them, he stood, amazed by what he was seeing.  
  
[I]She'll let you in her house  
  
If you come knocking late at night  
  
She'll let you in her mouth  
  
If the words you say are right  
  
If you pay the price  
  
She'll let you deep inside  
  
But there's a secret garden she hides  
  
[/I]  
  
Angel stood, in the middle of the most beautiful place he'd ever seen. Trees bowing down to them as they walked, hesitantly at first…flowers growing everywhere. A river to the left, mountains to the right. The sun was shining to brightly that he felt his heart stop for a moment and he had to remind himself the procedures of breathing.  
  
Cordelia slid her hand into his lovingly as she watched him, amazed by the look on his face.  
  
There they were.  
  
In the middle of the most magical, peaceful and beautiful garden he had ever seen.  
  
He and Cordelia walked between two beautifully sculptured rocks before finding themselves surrounded by small and tall trees. Between the branches, he was a magnificent river, with little children playing and looking over at them. They kept on walking, holding hands, as Cordelia led the way through the magical land.  
  
[I]She'll let you in her car  
  
To go driving around  
  
She'll let you into the parts of herself  
  
That'll bring you down.  
  
She'll let you in her heart  
  
If you got a hammer and a vise  
  
But into her secret garden  
  
Don't think twice.  
  
[/I]  
  
They arrived at the top of a small hill overlooking mountains and prairies, all more beautiful than the other. Angel looked up at the sky, feeling the warmth of the sun against his skin and Cordy couldn't help but smile as she watched him.  
  
Human.  
  
Breathing.  
  
In the sunlight.  
  
[I]You've gone million miles  
  
how far did you get  
  
To that place where you can't remember  
  
And you can't forget  
  
[/I]  
  
She remembered now.  
  
Somehow, she remembered. The fear was gone.  
  
She'd found her way.  
  
As they both stood and watched the beautiful and enchanting scenery, Angel's voice came into a bare, awed whisper.  
  
"I've never seen anything like it…it's beautiful…" he whispered.  
  
Clearly a strong contrast to the side of her mind that they were coming from.  
  
"I didn't know a place like this even existed…" his voice came once again in a whisper filled with awe and pure disbelief.  
  
"It's because it doesn't. It's my secret place." She said, turned to him and smiled softly (almost sadly) "I told you I'd bring you here…" she whispered.  
  
[I]She'll lead you down the path  
  
there'll be tenderness in the air  
  
She'll let you come just as far enough  
  
So you know she's really there  
  
And she'll look at you and smile  
  
And her eyes will say  
  
She's got a secret garden  
  
Where everything you want  
  
Where everything you need  
  
Will always stay  
  
A million miles away…  
  
[/I]  
  
They looked at one another, the magnificent scenery behind them adding to the depth of their emotions.  
  
Cordelia then turned and saw a little girl – herself – standing near a tree. The young Cordelia motioned for them to follow her in a childlike manner. Cordy's eyes went back and forth between the little girl and Angel, and that's when she was sure.  
  
She was finally sure.  
  
She knew.  
  
"I remember now." She whispered, squeezing Angel's hand into hers. "I know the way out."  
  
--  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW: Will Cordy and Angel manage their way out unharmed? Or will someone unexpected come to their rescue? 


	14. Awakening

CHAPTER 14 – Awakening  
  
They stood silently in front of a large metal door.  
  
He could feel her heart racing, even without his vampire powers. He could feel the moistness of her hand in his as she stood beside him, her eyes riveted on the door in front of her.  
  
She had told him she knew. She had told him she knew exactly how to get out of here. And he had followed her. The two of them, hand in hand, had slowly followed the little girl out of the Secret Garden and straight into the darkness. Angel had recognized some of the corridors he and Cordy had been trapped in many hours before, but he still had no idea where they were going. He'd felt Cordelia's hand tug at his hand as she followed the little girl quickly.  
  
The girl, otherwise known as a ten-year-old version of Cordelia, had led them through the humid and creepy corridors without saying a word. Their silent walk had stopped when the young girl had abruptly stopped in front of a large door.  
  
This large door.  
  
Angel had looked sideways to Cordelia, and he had recognized that look in her eyes. That look of certainty and determination. She knew perfectly well what she was doing, and somehow, he trusted she was doing the right thing. Emily had warned him that the only way for them to ever get out of Cordelia's head was for Cordy, herself, to find the exit. And somehow she knew now. One look at that little girl, and Cordelia had known that whatever way out there was, it lied in her past. Her memories.  
  
It lied within herself.  
  
She and Angel had watched as their friends had died, one by one, because of this living nightmare that Dennis' mother had inflicted on them. This game in which she had forced them to participate. This labyrinth in which she had trapped them. All their friends, gone…dead…and all they had been able to do was watch. Lorne's fall into the abyss, Wesley's body being pierced with spikes…Fred being savagely sliced, Emily turned to stone…Gunn bitten by Darla…all that was left was them. Angel and Cordelia.  
  
Cordelia vowed to end this game, a vow she had no intentions of breaking, no matter what.  
  
The image of the 10-year-old Cordelia Chase had looked at them with pleading, tearful eyes before disappearing into thin air.  
  
And there they were. Standing in painful silence in front of the large door.  
  
"Are you sure about this?" Angel said in a low voice, as Cordy turned her eyes to his face. "Cordy…"  
  
"I don't know how I know Angel." She whispered in all honesty. "But being in that garden…finding that place again…being there…with you…I just knew. I know that the only way we can get out of here is by following her." Cordy said referring to the smaller version of herself. "I mean me…I mean…you know what I mean." She rolled her eyes and Angel couldn't help the smile that crept on the corner of his lips.  
  
"Okay…" Angel whispered back, squeezing her hand into his, sensing the fear hidden behind her beautiful hazel eyes.  
  
Cordelia faced the door again, knowing that whatever lied behind it would be their only chance of survival in this sick game. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could feel the ghost of Dennis' mother close to them, she could feel her playing her mind games again and it took everything in Cordelia not to let her overpower her.  
  
"Just don't let go of me…" she whispered, her eyes still closed as she tightened her grip on Angel's hand.  
  
Keeping a reassuring hold on her hand, Angel moved forward and opened the metal door slowly. He and Cordelia walked into the dark room and Angel had to remind himself to breathe. Being human had its ups and downs and the fact that he'd forgotten to breathe a few times was surely one of the downs.  
  
Everything was dark.  
  
Silent.  
  
Then, the lights seemed to be magically turned on and Angel and Cordelia spotted the little girl standing a couple of feet away from them.  
  
After hesitating for a few seconds, Cordy took a step forward in order to reach the little girl, but something stopped her.  
  
A bright, blinding flash of blue light illuminated the room, creating a large blue screen in front of them. The blue screen perfectly separated the room in two distinct and symmetrical sections. Angel tightened his grip on Cordelia's shaking hand, but he saw the anger and fearlessness in her eyes when she saw the face of evil behind the little girl.  
  
"Oh my God…" Cordy whispered when she saw Dennis' mother standing right behind the little girl, a knife in hand, ready to slice the young girl's throat.  
  
"Well, well, well…what do we have here…" The demon spoke as she grabbed the young girl.  
  
"Let go of her!" Angel yelled, throwing himself forward, only to hurt himself against the large blue screen. "If you touch her…"  
  
Angel pulled himself up off the floor and looked up into the demon's eyes with such hatred and rage that Angelus would have been proud.  
  
Dennis' mother held a small globe in one hand, which Angel assumed was what kept the blue screen up, and in the other she squeezed little Cordy's neck. Angel barely had time to form a thought before he heard Cordelia's gasp beside him. He turned around and saw her fall to her knees in pain, gasping for air, her hands quickly going to her throat. He rushed back towards her, trying to help her up, but all she did was crumble more onto the floor in pain. Angel's eyes went back and forth for a moment between the two versions of Cordelia, the real one and the 10-year-old one, and he understood. Cordelia was connected to the little girl. They were both the same person. Whatever Dennis' mother did to one of them, the other felt it.  
  
"You see….that's where the fun is…" the demon laughed proudly. "All I have to do is snap this little girl's neck and your lover here will be dead…and so will you…again." She then giggled with pleasure.  
  
"Let go of her!" Angel yelled again, seeing her tighten her fingers around the young girl's neck.  
  
Angel panicked when he saw Cordelia gasping even more for air. He knelt on the floor beside her, fear rising in his eyes.  
  
With one quick move, the evil ghost cut one of LittleCordy's cheeks with her knife. Immediately, Cordy's cheek began bleeding as well as the young child's.  
  
"Or what?" the woman asked from her side of the blue screen. "You can't fight me. You can't stop me. And you won't escape me." She said. "You did once…but you won't do it twice. Don't you understand by now?!" she then shouted at Angel and a breathless and tearful Cordelia. "Don't you get it?!? I'm in control here and you will not get out! This is my game and these are my rules…you can't change them…" she said through her teeth, staring intently at Cordy's helpless form on the ground.  
  
Still desperately trying to breathe, Cordelia looked up and she froze. Something caught her eyes behind Dennis' mother. Something moved.  
  
Angel also noticed and he gasped, not sure if this was good or not. He looked at Cordelia and the two shared a stunned and confused silence.  
  
"You can't defeat me. I make the rules here…Don't you know by now?" she then laughed. "I'm a master at making the rules…" the demon breathed out.  
  
"Really…" Angel said in strange calmness as he wrapped his arm around Cordy's weak body. "Then I guess you forgot something…" he said through his teeth.  
  
"And what would that be?" the demon asked, impatiently.  
  
There was a loud thump behind her, and a familiar voice was heard into the room.  
  
"That I'm a master at breaking them." The female voice spoke from behind.  
  
Dennis' mother barely had the time to turn around before Faith hit her in the face with a large pipe. Dennis' mother fell to the ground, inadvertently freeing the young girl, and automatically allowing Cordelia to breathe again.  
  
"Faith?" Cordy managed to speak as Angel helped her up to her feet, and the two of them stared at the uninvited guest, who was now busy battling the demon.  
  
Alarmed by what was happening, a handful of big, creepy demons appeared from nowhere, circling them.  
  
When Faith hit the woman again, the globe fell out of her hands and rolled around on the floor. Without hesitation, Faith lifted the solid piece of metal she held in her hands and smashed the globe with every ounce of strength she had in her. Immediately after, the blue screen vanished.  
  
"Angel…" Cordelia said, seeing one of the demons coming towards him.  
  
"Cordy, get the little girl…" he told her as he engaged into a battle with three of the demons.  
  
Cordy heard screams, she heard punches being thrown, Angel growling…Faith falling backwards…the sounds of war. The sounds of fear. She managed her way through the newfound battlefield and tried to reach little Cordelia, but couldn't. She was stopped by a large beast that grabbed her from behind and threw her across the room.  
  
"C! The door!" Faith yelled, pointing to the door that appeared on one of the walls. "Get out dammit!"  
  
Just as the words left her mouth, she was grabbed violently and shoved against the floor. Faith's name escaped Cordelia's lips as she watched the scene unfold. Cordy watched in horror as Dennis' mother plunged a sharp dagger into Faith's abdomen, prompting the slayer to gasp in pain.  
  
Everything seemed to happen in slow motion from then on. Cordelia vaguely saw Angel throw himself at the demon, pushing her off of Faith's lifeless body. With one quick move, Angel managed to snap her neck and let her fall down onto the ground. Dennis' mother limply crashed down, and Cordy stopped breathing for an instant.  
  
"Cordy!"  
  
She heard him yell her name, and saw him rush in her direction. She was still lying down, her head hurting like never before.  
  
"Angel…" she tried to speak but it was too late.  
  
One of the guard demons had caught up with him and the two had begun battling again.  
  
"The door, Cordy…The door!" Angel yelled at her.  
  
For a moment, Cordelia raged a mental war with herself. She couldn't leave Angel behind. She couldn't leave him…And then his voice rang in the room again, urging her to get out. Her eyes fell on Faith's dead body in one of the corners and confusing sipped through her. Why Faith? How? Where had she come from?  
  
A small tear ran down her face. So much blood on the floor.  
  
So much blood.  
  
Faith's blood.  
  
Cordelia swallowed with difficulty, looking back and forth between Angel and Faith, and then her eyes rested on the now slightly opened door. She hesitated to move when she saw Angel being thrown across the room and her heart skipped a beat. But then, she remembered Emily's words. The only way to save themselves is if Cordelia finds the way out. With a newfound determination, Cordy pulled herself up and ran, as fast as she could, towards the door.  
  
As soon as she set foot on the other side, all the noise stopped.  
  
No more fighting.  
  
No more screaming.  
  
No more blood.  
  
Cordelia froze at what she saw. Everything inside of her threatened to break in that one instant. She stood there, tears rolling down her face, catching her breath, staring at the crowded room.  
  
Lorne…Wesley…Fred…Emily…Gunn…Faith…Buffy, Giles, Willow, Xander, Joyce…everyone was there. Everyone except Angel. They were silent, just staring at her as if they were mere statues waiting for her to move.  
  
And then her eyes fell onto the small table in the corner.  
  
She knew that scene. She had hated that scene for so many years as a child.  
  
Cordy spotted her parents, talking away with some guests, a couple of people were dancing, soft music was playing…and sitting all by herself in one of the corners was herself. Young, little, sad and lonely.  
  
Cordelia took a deep breath and headed straight for the table in the corner. She stopped right in front of her clueless parents and took a long hard look at them, before glancing at the little 10-year-old girl staring back at her.  
  
That was her way out.  
  
"Come on…I'll take you out of here." Cordy said to the little girl, offering her her hand.  
  
Cordelia's dad jumped up and faced her.  
  
"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you are not taking my daughter anywhere." He threatened.  
  
Cordelia couldn't help the tiny smile that crept on her lips. If they only knew she was the person that that little girl had become…  
  
"That's always been the problem hasn't it?" Cordy told him calmly. "You never paid enough attention to know who I was…" she whispered as the little girl got up and walked towards Cordy.  
  
The man stood, speechless and Cordelia looked down at the girl she had once been. She took a deep and shaky breath before extending her hand to the little girl once again.  
  
"I knew you would come…" the girl spoke in that relieved, childish tone.  
  
Cordelia bent down and the girl wrapped her tiny little arms around Cordy's neck, desperately pleading her to get her out of there. Cordelia lifted the girl up in her arms, gave one last look at her unknowing parents and turned around, carrying the bruised and tired little girl away from the table.  
  
As the girl tightened her arms around Cordy's neck, Cordelia heard her little voice whisper in her ear.  
  
"Thank you…"  
  
--  
  
There was a bright flash of light in Cordelia's bedroom and Cordy's body shot up in bed, a loud and painful scream escaping her throat. A mixture of blood and sweat covered her forehead and Cordelia gasped for air, sitting up in bed, feeling herself being released from the mental prison she had been kept in.  
  
She breathed heavily, in pain, quickly glancing around the room and taking in her surroundings, looking for the familiar faces she so desperately wanted to find.  
  
But her heart sank.  
  
These faces were nowhere to be found. No Wesley, or Lorne, or Gunn or Fred…  
  
No Angel.  
  
She sat there, trying to catch her breath, her body still weak and bruised, all alone. Her eyes filled with tears as she realized everything that had just happened and fear invaded her.  
  
She had found the way out.  
  
She had gotten out.  
  
She'd woken up from the spell.  
  
Alone… 


	15. Conclusion

Disclaimer: Don't own anything, except Emily :)  
  
Feedback: denis.hebert5@sympatico.ca  
  
Note: I want to say thank you to everyone who's been following this wacky story :lol: Your feedback meant the world to me and really is a huge motivator if I may say so myself. I hope this will do the rest of the story (as well as The Sacrifice) justice. Thanks again!  
  
-------------  
  
.CHAPTER 15 - Conclusion  
  
The pounding of her own heart resounded in her ears, making it the only sound audible in her dark bedroom. In that short instant, time stood still, allowing a million of uninvited possibilities to enter her mind. Still breathing heavily, she scanned the room once more but found none of the familiar faces she'd prayed would be staring back at her.  
  
Sweat and blood covered her forehead, proving all too well just how real everything had been.  
  
Much too real.  
  
Her heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she heard a loud, crashing noise coming from the living room.  
  
--  
  
[I]Living room[/I]  
  
A bright flash of white light took over the entire apartment, sweeping through the room like the wind. From that white light, five weakened bodies were dropped onto the ground. Fred violently fell to the floor while Lorne crashed onto the television set, breaking it into dozens of pieces. Wesley and Gunn limply broke the table as their bruised bodies crumbled against it.  
  
Not so far to the side, an obviously weak and drained Angel crashed onto the floor with a painful groan.  
  
At the sound of the chaos, Cordelia frantically pushed the covers off of her legs and jumped out of bed, limping her way across the bedroom and towards the door as if her life depended on it. She heard the breaking sounds, the movements in the living room and she held her breath involuntarily. She leaned against the wall beside her and took in the sight that graced her.  
  
"Oh my God..." she let out as tears filled her weary eyes.  
  
Gunn immediately jumped up from the broken table, somewhat alarmed by the familiar voice behind him. He spun around quickly - and defensively.  
  
"I'll pay for it!" he immediately spouted, fearing the familiar wrath only Cordelia knew how to give.  
  
Barely hearing him, Cordy threw herself on the floor in front of Angel as he pulled himself up to his knees. She finally released a shaky breath and threw her arms around h is neck, holding him tighter than she knew she probably even meant to. But it's not as if he needed air or anything, so she just held on.  
  
"Oh my God...I thought..." she whispered against his damp sweater, her eyes swimming in unshed tears.  
  
A weak Angel brushed her hair with his trembling hands and held her close to him, listening to the panicked sound of her heartbeat against his heaving chest. Completely oblivious to the small crowd looking at her, Cordy ran light kisses along the side of his face until she found his lips. Relief invaded her every move. She placed a few repetitive light kisses on his lips before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.  
  
The intensity in the room was palpable. Angel cupped her face with his hands as a small tear rolled down his cheek.  
  
"You did it..." he whispered as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders once more, this time closing her eyes and letting a soft smile momentarily erase the bruises on her face.  
  
Wesley, Fred, Gunn and Lorne stood by the sideline, watching the closeness between Angel and Cordelia that hadn't been so obvious prior to their little adventure in Cordy's brain. `Well,' Fred though. `If they only knew...' A smile crept up on her face. Keeping their feelings a secret now seemed slightly ridiculous at this point.  
  
"Is that exclusive or do we all get a turn?" Gunn asked, making their presence known to the couple.  
  
Cordy helped Angel stand up and immediately ran towards the other four, taking them somewhat by surprise by pulling them into a very emotional embrace.  
  
"I guess we do." Gunn answered his own question as Cordy wrapped her arms around his and the other's shoulders.  
  
As the slight surprise wore off, they welcomed the gesture wholeheartedly, and with sighs of relief.  
  
"Air." Fred finally chocked under Cordelia's burst of friendly affection.  
  
Cordy pulled back while Angel walked towards them from behind her.  
  
"You're alive..." she barely managed to speak up as tears ran down her face. Images of each of their deaths flashed behind her pained eyes. "I'm so sorry...I..." she couldn't finish her thoughts though.  
  
Angel brushed a few strands of hair away from her bloody wound on her forehead, his expression one of concern and relief all at once.  
  
"Are you okay?" he whispered, staring into her eyes.  
  
Cordy looked at him, relaxing at his touch, and managed a tiny smile.  
  
"Yeah..." she whispered back. "I just...when I woke up and none of you were there I just..." she stopped herself and took a deep breath, before letting a nervous laugh escape her throat - one of those laugh that only she could laugh. "I've never been more happy to see you guys!"  
  
At the expression on her face, neither of them could help the smiles that spread across their faces. A short silence fell between the six of them as they all looked at one another.  
  
"Being one who was booted off the island early on, I'm not sure how you did it, but however you managed to find that exit, more power to you princess. I knew you would." Lorne said rubbing the huge bump on the back of his head.  
  
"Well," Cordy said glancing over at Angel. "I had a little help." She admitted with a loving smile.  
  
"Don't look at me." Angel innocently but honestly said. "It was all you." He whispered in a heartfelt tone.  
  
Everyone noticed the warm smile that Cordelia gave Angel and how the vampire reached out to touch the woman's cheek tenderly. Whatever had happened in there after their own demise must have been pretty huge, Gunn thought.  
  
"Actually, if we're going to give credits where it's due..." Fred said, breaking the comforting silence. "Some of it has to go to Emily." She admitted. "She was the one who helped us get in there in the first place." She added as the others nodded in agreement.  
  
"Emily..." Cordy whispered, remembering the events inside of her mind and what Emily had suffered in there, even if she wasn't real. Angel saw the sad look in her eyes and squeezed her hand. "Where is she?" Cordy then questioned with a frown, looking around the apartment.  
  
"She was here when we..." Angel began to explain but stopped himself when he saw a sheet of paper lift up into the air.  
  
"GONE FOR HELP"  
  
The words were written with a black marker, in big bold letters.  
  
"Gone for help where, Dennis?" Angel asked, concerned all of a sudden.  
  
"????" was Dennis' only response.  
  
"I thought there was nothing that she could do..." Gunn acknowledged, voicing the same confusion as everybody else.  
  
Where had Emily gone? And what had she done? Something kept bugging Cordelia about that, until Dennis flipped the sheet over and wrote something else.  
  
"GLAD U'R OK J" he genuinely expressed his happiness at the sight of Cordelia and the others alive and well.  
  
Then it hit Cordy and brought tears to her eyes. She knew the effects that his mother had had on him, and she also knew how painful it was for him, even as a ghost, to think about her. But as much as he hated her for the hell she put him, and Cordelia through, she was still his mother.  
  
"Dennis..." she began, and then paused for a moment. "I'm sorry..."  
  
Dennis cut her off by drawing a little smiley figure on the paper, which made her smile. "HUGS" he then wrote and Cordelia knew that he was alright.  
  
"So?" Lorne clapped his hands, waiting for the juicy details. "Don't mean to pry, but the curiosity is going to kill me - no pun intended. What happened after my overly dramatic fall into demon-land?"  
  
Everyone shot him a look, and he grinned sheepishly.  
  
"It's a long story..." Cordelia sighed, taking a deep breath, which Lorne took as an indicator that it wouldn't be a story he'd hear tonight.  
  
Wesley looked around before asking his question, out of good manners, simply to make sure that Dennis would not break something or react to what he was about to say.  
  
"What about Dennis' mother?" Wesley finally asked.  
  
"Oh, she's gone..." Angel replied quickly, with a sigh of relief.  
  
"Oh thank God!" Fred exclaimed involuntarily. "she was [I]freaking[/I] me out..." she grimaced and found Cordelia giving her a sympathy look.  
  
"Yeah...seemed to be a recurring theme in there..." Cordy mumbled to herself, thinking of all the things her friends might have seen while inside her head. "Sorry about that...whatever you may have...seen...or...whatever..." she stumbled upon her own words.  
  
Just as she spoke, Gunn and Fred exchanged a rather sad look. What they had seen had stayed with them, and probably would for a long time, but both knew that now was not the time to bring it up. The sight of little Cordelia hiding up the stairs while her father hit her mother was an image that neither of them would forget. And maybe, just maybe...someday...Cordelia would feel free to talk about that. But not now. Now was not the time. Fred and Gunn knew that. They simply smiled back and Cordy silently thanked them for not mentioning whatever it is they had stumbled into while in her memories.  
  
As if reading their minds and their somber looks, Cordy tried to lighten the mood.  
  
"It wasn't all bad." She smiled and glanced at Angel again. "I mean, there were some good things that happened..." at the sound of her words Angel couldn't help the grin on his lips. If he couldn't' have blushed, he probably would due to the look Cordelia chase was throwing at her favorite vampire right about then.  
  
"Yeah..." Lorne said his eyes widening. "I can see that!" he suddenly exclaimed while both Angel and Cordy turned to face him.  
  
Their looks shouted "You're not supposed to be reading us!!!" So, Lorne just smirked and kept the rest to himself.  
  
"I'm actually glad that all of this happened, as incredibly insane as that may - and probably does - sound." Cordelia admitted with a sigh. "Sometimes there are things you just have to let go of..." she said as Angel looked at her knowingly, understanding what she meant. "Sometimes you just have to find your way back to that secret garden..." she whispered, so only he could hear what she truly meant.  
  
"I knew you'd find your way out of your own dark corner." A voice softly spoke from behind them.  
  
Cordelia, Angel, and the others quickly turned to face the familiar voice, and were graced by a glowing Emily, whose smile brightened the room.  
  
"Looks like we both have now." She whispered, echoing the words that Cordelia had once told her.  
  
Cordy smiled at the sight of her young cousin.  
  
"Thank you." Angel told the girl, who gave him a warm smile in response.  
  
"Where did you go?" Fred then asked from behind Cordelia, as curiosity took over her.  
  
"I just had one or two things that I had to take care of." She answered calmly.  
  
"If we ask, will you be able to answer?" Wesley questioned, knowing that working for the powers meant very little information could be given in those times. Emily's silence answered his question. "Very well." He smiled at the teenager with a nod. "It was worth a shot."  
  
"Isn't it always?" Emily said as she looked at Cordy and Angel for a moment.  
  
A long silence took over the room, only to be broken by Emily's voice again. It was time. Once again, it was time to leave. She could feel. Only this time, it was different, and only she knew why.  
  
"Well, I better go." She sadly spoke, while Cordy instantly took a few steps forward.  
  
"Right now?" Cordelia asked, sadness filling her words.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Will you be back?" the words left Cordy's lips accompanied by a small tear.  
  
"Maybe. Someday." Emily whispered. "Even if you don't see me...I'll be here..."  
  
"You knew? All of this...how it would turn out...you knew?" Cordy asked in a quiet tone.  
  
"No." Emily honestly answered.  
  
They all looked at the young visible ghost as a short silence took over them all.  
  
"Sometimes, you just have to have a little...faith." Emily smiled.  
  
Cordelia's face stayed riveted on her cousin. That was it. All of a sudden it dawned on her. So simple. So real. So obvious. It wasn't exactly in the words Emily had just spoken, but more in the way she had said them while looking at her. `sometimes you just have to have a little faith...' she repeated to herself.  
  
And Emily disappeared.  
  
--  
  
Cordelia sat in a chair. She nervously ran her hands through her dark hair and fidgeted uncomfortably in the small metallic chair. She didn't really know why she was nervous, or what she would say for that matter. But after everything that had happened, this felt right. This felt like something she should be doing.  
  
She looked around herself and took a deep breath, picking up the phone receptor with one hand and bringing it to her right ear.  
  
"Hey..." a strangely familiar - yet quieter - voice was heard from the other side.  
  
"Hi." Cordelia replied awkwardly at first.  
  
On the other side of the window, dressed in a gray prison attire, Faith took a seat, staring at Cordy through the glass. There was a long and awkward silence between the two, since neither of them really knew what to say to one another.  
  
"Can't really say I ever expected to see you of all people here..." Faith bluntly, but truthfully spoke.  
  
"Can't really say I ever expected to be here..." Cordy agreed in a calm voice. "So..." she hesitated before continuing, sensing the discomfort factor that stood between the two of them. "How have you been?"  
  
"Oh, you know...a little more introspective than usual, but what else can you do in here?" Faith shook her head. "You?"  
  
Cordy pondered that question for a moment and then sighed with a smile.  
  
"Something like that too."  
  
"Did Angel send you?" Faith inquired with a frown.  
  
"No." Cordy quickly assured her.  
  
"Good, so the world's not about to end just yet." Faith grinned. "So, what brings you over to my little hot spot, huh?" she then asked, surprisingly kind of friendlier than Cordy had expected.  
  
"Just..." she was about to find a great excuse but somehow decided against it at t he last minute. "I don't know..." she admitted. "I guess I thought it was the right time to...visit you."  
  
For a moment there, Faith seemed almost touched. It's not like a lot of people had come over to see her.  
  
That's when Cordelia noticed something on Faith's face. On the left side of her cheek, there was a large cut that looked pretty painful. All of a sudden, Cordy saw a flashback of Faith fighting with Dennis' mother and the demon attacking her from behind, scratching Faith's face with its claws. Cordy stared at Faith, confirmation to what she had previously believed settling in her mind.  
  
"What happened to your face?" Cordy asked.  
  
Faith paused, touching the cut on her cheek for a moment and then casually explained.  
  
"I fell." She said and at Cordy's disbelieving look, she added, "cleaning the toilets. It was actually one of the highlights of the week if you can believe it." Faith managed a tiny smile.  
  
Cordy lowered her eyes and smiled to herself as well. There was something in Faith's tone of voice that told her not to push the subject.  
  
"She told you to say that didn't she?" Cordy said anyway, perfectly knowing what Emily had done.  
  
There was a long pause between Faith and Cordy, and Faith took a deep breath.  
  
"I fell. Let's just leave it at that." Faith said in a soft voice, which surprised Cordelia.  
  
And in that moment, Cordelia knew the truth. Faith had not been a figment of her imagination. She had been there, real...and she had saved them. Cordy wasn't sure if she would ever understand why exactly Faith had agreed to help them, or what Emily might have told her to get her to do so, but she knew better than to ask.  
  
"Ok..." Cordy nodded, uncharacteristically not prying for more.  
  
"Thanks for showing up here." Faith then said, sounding genuine enough.  
  
Cordy looked up and spoke into the phone receptor.  
  
"Right back at ya."  
  
--  
  
Cordelia walked back into her apartment, threw her keys on the table and dropped her bag on the floor. She was tired now. She was about to turn on the light when she saw a small candle lit in the middle of the living room.  
  
She walked over to it and found a little piece of paper. Something was written with paint on it and she fought the urge to giggle.  
  
"Welcome home." The note said.  
  
When she lifted her eyes, she saw Angel standing a couple of feet away from her, looking like the boy next door that Cordelia knew he wasn't. This time around, she couldn't help but laugh.  
  
Standing there in a dirty pair of jeans and a black, paint-covered t-shirt, Angel stared at her with a sexy smile. Cordy bit her lower lip and tilted her head to admire the view.  
  
"Who are you and what have you done with my vampire?" she asked with a teasing grin crossing her lips.  
  
"I wanted to do something for you." He said, motioning for her to follow him.  
  
She did and he took her hand into his tenderly and led her to her bedroom. Once they reached the entrance, Cordy stood still, completely taken by the sight that graced her. Angel waited behind her expectantly, waiting for her reaction.  
  
The room was nothing like she'd remembered leaving it. For one, the furniture was gone and the bedroom was empty, but that's not what grabbed her attention. Her eyes looked over at the walls, especially where her bed usually stood, and noticed how the entire room had been re-painted.  
  
"I knew it would be difficult for you to walk back in here with...you know...the room looking like a billboard...and...I thought, maybe, you would want to get the writings off..." Angel hesitantly spoke as he still waiting for some sort of reaction from her.  
  
Indeed, the writing was gone. All those horrible reminders of what had happened h ad been erased, or at least covered up. In her absence, while she was visiting Faith, Angel had done this.  
  
"If you don't like the color..." he then nervously spoke again, but Cordy immediately turned to face him.  
  
"It's perfect." She whispered, taking his face into her hands and placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "It's perfect." She whispered again, this time, resting her forehead against his.  
  
Her hands slid down his neck and rested on his chest for a moment and she felt Angel's eyes lower and grow darker for a second there. His hands covered hers and she knew what he was thinking. Underneath her fingers, that heart that had been beating against her skin not so long ago, was now quiet. Silenced.  
  
"I meant what I said back there..." she whispered heavily, squeezing his hands. "I really do love you...heartbeat or not."  
  
"It won't be easy." He reminded her.  
  
Cordy shook her head and snorted, which took Angel by surprise initially.  
  
"Since when has anything been easy with us? I'd be worried if you actually told me it wouldn't be difficult." She laughed, which managed to bring a smile to his face. "Angel..." she tenderly spoke, caressing his cheek. "I know we can't have everything that we want right now, but trust me...I have everything that I need." She said as he lowered his lips to hers and kissed her lovingly and deeply.  
  
They both smiled between kisses as they held one another in the almost completely dark and empty bedroom. Sure, they were a couple of many limitations at the moment, but someday...someday, maybe that heartbeat would be heard again. Someday, they would have all that they want.  
  
But right now, they were happy with having one another. Right now, they had all that they needed.  
  
Each other.  
  
Love.  
  
Suddenly, the door slammed behind them and they both jumped up. When Cordelia heard the television being turned on, she laughed against Angel's t-shirt.  
  
"You think that was Dennis' way of saying `Get a room?'" she flashed a bright smile at him, which he returned without hesitation.  
  
END.  
  
--------  
  
Didn't I tell you that no matter how ugly or depressing or dramatic the story got, I DO like happy endings? :)  
  
Please do let me know what you thought of this chapter, or the story as a whole. I'm a feedback junkie so don't hold back! :)  
  
Andrea (I love writing so much, I doubt this will be the last you see of me...be it a good thing or bad, depends on your views I guess :lol: ) 


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